The Tale of Happy Tree ch. 1

The Tale of Happy Tree

Day 1: Mistakes and Demeanors

‘Bleak futures. Burnt out dreams.’ This phrase had echoed throughout many generations of the residents who lived in the town of Bleakburn established firmly as part of the four towns of the kingdom of Happy Tree. It was not a town of pivotal importance within the social sphere of the kingdom, more along the lines of one of many regular towns in the world. Residents carried out their daily lives content, secure in the protection of one King Flippy and his elite guardianship of knights. The monarchy had earned the people’s trust for successfully and revolutionarily establishing an untarnished sector of towns and a capital for the Tree Friends to live in that was guarded against the wilds and its magicks. In truth though, for every flawless establishment, there are flaws beckoning underneath the surface. After all, for Bleakburn to have attained its name and town motto over time, there was bound to be a few bad eggs in the basket. Namely, it was a frequent destination for overbearing thugs, criminals, and sinners to name a resting ground. Most were smart and hid their operations underneath a facade or occupation of helpfulness and comfort. Even with the threat of the guards patrolling ruthlessly but devotedly for protection, there were some bad eggs daring enough (Or perhaps foolish enough) to publicly strike. Such as one lone figure down one of Bleakburn’s residential districts, busy enough for such a ruffian to sneak up behind a victim and start making threats.

"Nobody move!" Warned a masked reptile, holding a petite looking mouse boy hostage.

Dozens of citizens gasped and feared for the life of the rodent, begging the escaped prisoner to let him go. The poor boy squirmed in the tyrannical hands, feeling pitiful in the dangerous individual’s hold, he was so young and wanted to do lots of things before he died.
“P-please let me go! I-I’ll do anything you ask!” Begged the mouse before the croc pulled him closer.
“No chances sweetheart, you’ll be my getaway ticket to freedom, and when I escape, you’ll be in for a real treat.” sweet-talked the hostage-taker, rubbing himself against the hostage’s backside and bringing a hand to their thigh. An aggressive and suggestive gesture only heightened the reality of the situation for all parties involved.
Tears of horror ran across the boy’s body, he was not going to be rescued, nor was he going to be able to escape. He would eventually be brought to some isolated location where he would be abused and… have this scum have his way with him.

Until…

A quiet and subtle stream of armored figures, brandishing weapons of mostly bladed natures and shields, made their way through the crowd. Several knights, composed and undeterred by the threat were fully intent on resolving this conflict peacefully. The crocodile gazed upon them defiantly, sure of his advantage. With a scornful spit towards the guards, he slowly edged his way towards the direction of where the town’s crossroads over to other areas of the kingdoms lay. Among the guards, was a canine looking tree friend. With his regal-looking fur of silver and white, shining armor that looked like it was well taken care of and encasing it was the stocky body of its owner, a sword that had gleamed in the sun, a shield that could stand against a thousand blows, and finally, what struck him the most was his facial features: a piercing gaze and a wolfish grin. This particular guard carried the lack of restraint and also the sheer willpower to speak for the more carefully analyzing knights he was surrounded with.

“Hold it right there scum!” Shouted the guard, while both the boy, the escaped prisoner, and the citizens acknowledged the presence of the wolf, the guards had groans and sighs escape from them.

“Oh geez, it’s Axel again,” said a guard worryingly, “We must have been really cruel in a previous life to have been cursed by his presence,” said another guard.

“We got ourselves a hero eh? Remember! If you get closer, he dies!” Challenged the croc, bringing the blade to the endangered male and bracing himself for a likely chase.

“Maybe we can come to an agreement.” Said Axel, already devising a risky plan of his.

“Unless it has something to do with granting me a safe escape then your ‘negotiation’ will just be a mug of goat pis-” Said the croc, only to find his voice cut off instantly when he saw the edge of a knife thrown directly to his head, loosening his hold on the mouse boy. The mouse boy wisely shook off his now stiff captor’s arms and retreated to the knights who welcomed him with open arms. The latest ruffian’s dead body fell onto the dusty roads of Bleakburn.

Axel’s form was at a throwing pose, the hidden knife he had kept in his belt was now gone, impaled on the dead lizard’s corpse. Playing to his opponent’s level of confidence was one of his greatest strengths and enabled a very clean execution and rescue. Axel returned to a neutral stance, walked to the corpse, and smugly told it,

“I get paid, and you die. The better to skin you with my dear.” told Axel, staring him right in the eyes.

The people cheered for the risky yet heroic act of the wolf, the other guards, however, had a different view on this. Not that they didn’t think Axel had failed and indeed they were relieved and optimistic about saving another life in a town that already had a bad reputation for safety. But…

“The captain’s going to tan our hides for this,” said a guard, “Yeah, there were explicit orders to bring this guy back alive,” said another. With no other choice and knowing they’ll face their commander’s wrath, they hauled the body away as proof of the event. The rest of the crowd dispersed after this, mostly out of paranoia of being attacked themselves but also because the daily Bleakburn entertainment had ended once more. All but one. The mouse had come running to Axel, who immediately began giving him praises.

“Oh heroic and noble guard, you have saved me from the perilous and evil hands of that man. Tell me sir, how can I ever repay you?” Questioned the grateful mouse.

Axel stroked his pristine white fur and whispered to the mouse’s ear.

“Well, there is one way you could repay me...” Axel’s suddenly low voice spoke suggestively, caressing the mouse’s ass with a surprisingly gentle gesture.

The response would normally have seemed very inappropriate, particularly for that of a guard but Axel was no ordinary guard. The townspeople simply weren’t privy to this side of Axel as the guard did their best to come off as a spotless paragon of protection. Yet Axel was impatient and in the prime of his youth. Not to mention in his eyes, the mouse was indeed worthy of being given all the attention they deserved. The mouse blushed and began laughing nervously...

It was elsewhere, about some thirty minutes later through the horseback ride that the news was delivered to said captain. The furious fist of the captain shook the table of his desk, sending the ink spilling and papers scattered everywhere.

“Damn it! This is the thousandth time that damn brat has failed to follow simple orders! Where is he!?” Bellowed the captain.

He was a light brown bear with the physique of someone who bumbled a lot at his captain’s quarters and was robust and round. He wore the traditional knight’s armor but as a sign of his higher than life and prestigious position, he was allowed to wear a fine scarlet silk cape that extended to his boots and wore the royal insignia of a silver tag upon his chest. He carried a pipe that he had been conveniently smoking for pleasure’s sake up until the bad news barged into his room and also wore a felt cap with a big turkey feather for embellishment. Despite being known for being a kind-hearted father in his personal life, his personality during a news report put many of the knights on edge. Triggering his temper too had been proven unwise in the past and was certainly on the verge of being unleashed right at that moment.

“Well?!” Pop looked impatient as the knights were clearly trying to brainstorm an adequate response. The guards jumped as he slammed his fist once again on his desk.

“S-sorry captain Pop sir. But we thought it’d be more important to deliver the news to you immediately.” Said a guard who quaked in his boots. This didn’t serve to ease his mind however and made him madder.

“Incompetent fools all of you! Two men would have sufficed to report to me and the rest of you should have kept an eye on Axel, instead of all of you fools coming here and breathing my air! Bah! Nevermind, I’ll get him myself” said Pop, getting up from his seat and storming out of his office.

The guards looked down in silence, feeling stupid that despite Pop’s angry tone, he was right, they should have brought Axel here. Axel was known by Pop as a ‘loose cannon’ and so to hear that letting the wolf go unchecked in his actions was not going to win any favor. A guard soon spoke up, “So, wanna get drunk tonight?” The response from the other guardsmen was merry cheering and gleeful talking like a bunch of schoolboys. Perhaps not anything that Pop would approve of but it was somewhat of a guilty pleasure for them to indulge in until things boiled over with Axel and Pop.

In the streets of Bleakburn, Pop scoured the town for the unruly guard that was his subordinate Axel, searching high and low for the canine. Axel’s movements beyond usually being forced to stick with the knight on a specific patrol were unpredictable. Particularly given that it seemed he had stayed behind for whatever absurd reason Pop conceived.

“You! Have you seen a wolf in guards armor?” Was the question he asked all of them to which he had gotten no solid answers from. Most of them gave him a brief description of the event, giving only vague clues to where he might have gone.

Until one particular rat peasant answered his question, “Oh, was it that guard who took down that escaped convict? Well, I think I saw him coming with that pretty mouse boy down the inn” said the rat, as soon as he said that, Pop had begun hurrying towards the nearest inn he could find, ignoring the ‘pretty’ adjective being used for who had been nearly killed.

Pop entered the cozy confines of the inn, mugs of ale and the sweet scent of the delicacies the owner of the inn emanated in the walls of the tavern. A green squirrel gave all sorts of drinks and meals to the patrons of the inn, he had a lazy eye, he was a bit sticky with some of the ingredients he used, honey, sugar and all sorts of sweet spices had stained his apron as he delivered the orders of his customers. His shape was also notably plump yet he moved with an uncanny lightness. Or perhaps it was more of a twitchiness given how the mugs he carried shook and spilled small amounts of drink with the erratic movements of the squirrel. Seeing a shadow looming over him, he saw Pop looking down on him.

“Have you seen a wolf in guards armor? With a mouse in tow?” asked Pop, the person, in turn, smiled a little too enthusiastically at the question nor did he question why he was being asked about this. It was common to nature for this particular innkeeper.

“Yeah, he and his friend rented the 2nd one to the right upstairs! Also, feel free to order anything you want.” Said the innkeeper. Pop looked at the innkeeper and tried his best not to look at his lazy eye and treat him normally.

“Thank you mr…?” Pop tried to thank him but trailed off, realizing he did not know this innkeeper’s name.

“Nutty sir!” Said Nutty eagerly.

“Thank you Nutty, if you don’t mind, I have some business with this wolf. Would you mind if I go upstairs?” Asked Pop.

“Sure! Though, be careful though. Some people keep bringing some weird smelling milk and spilling them on the floor. Whatever they’re doing they should really stop drinking milk in their rooms.” said Nutty.

Pop had an idea of what this “bad smelling milk” was and gave a repulsed glance towards the stairs in response. It also made him wonder if Nutty had lost his sense of reality at some point if he didn’t think this “bad smelling milk” was seen as a particular liability to his inn’s cleanliness and prestige to deal with it. Regardless, Pop decided not to persecute Nutty for the behavior of unseemly or perhaps reckless individuals within the inn. There were more important wolves to hunt at the moment.

Pop walked up the stairs to the second floor, and as evidence, seeing some of this ‘bad milk’ on the floor in the process, knew that this inn was almost on the same level as the brothel. He was very tempted now to report the appalling quality of this inn to the king at this point. Being a family man at heart, he found the idea of something as gross and vulgar as this being present in a public space to be disgraceful. Yet he was also somewhat bitterly amused at the idea of these people having ‘fun’ of sorts. Perhaps the sugary foods of this inn made these people have enough energy to do that when they normally wouldn’t. And at this point in his life, his own energy was draining with every coming year. Still, such thoughts wouldn’t dare compromise his mission at the moment and so Pop located the designated room.

And sure enough, on the 2nd door to the right, he could hear the moans of some fool taking what he was praying to be consensual sex. If it wasn’t… then someone was probably going to lose a tail. He didn’t dare place his ear upon the door to listen in for that would just be him delaying the inevitable. He breathed deeply, preparing his nerves to confront this miscreant of a wolf.

He knocked on the door, getting a husky and rather rude response of “occupied” from a voice inside, which he recognized as Axel’s. He knocked again, getting a much more grouchy response from the other side.

“Its occupied, fucking retard!” said Axel once again.

Pop was losing patience, he knocked for the third time.

“Fuck off!” said Axel, Pop decided he had enough and kicked the door open. His bear strength being more than enough to burst through a locked inn door.

And there was Axel, and the mouse boy, completely nude, frozen mid-thrust while they looked at Pop. Their perfect position on the bed made the scene pretty laughable to the common peasant but it was a sheer mockery of knighthood for Pop. Axel, who had been panting moments prior was forced to silence while the mouse looked at Pop with the deepest embarrassment Pop had seen in weeks.

“Should I fire you now and let you finish or perhaps you will stop what you are doing right away and we can begin to negotiate?” Pop sarcastically made a proposition to Axel in particular, not even bothering with the mouse.The mouse lifted his ass to get off of Axel’s throbbing length, picked up his clothes and ran for it. Ashamed and perhaps feeling betrayed, he was not going to let Axel make a choice.

”Wait!” said Axel, reaching a hand out for him but it was too late.

“S-sorry captain,” said the mouse while fleeing naked downstairs, earning gasps of surprise from bystanders seeing such a spectacle happen. It also earned the somewhat far too lingering stare of an easily distracted Nutty who looked on as the mouse’s swaying tail and ass flew off into the sunset.

“SIR AXEL.” Pop addressed Axel in such a fashion that was designed to make him feel guilty and grovel for mercy.

Normally Axel would feel the very weight of Pop’s voice upon his mind but being blue-balled in front of him made it feel like he was pinned by tons of boulders. His sexual high rapidly shrinking didn’t help either, making him completely out of his element. Still, defiance was one of his more prominent characteristics. Axel sighed rather lazily and folded his arms before asking Pop a teasingly oblivious question,

“What did I do wrong this time?” He was just wanting to just get this humiliating position he was in over with.

“Perhaps I should let the abandoned clothes on the floor be allowed to speak for you since clearly, you’re not willing to admit your mistake like the bigger man.” Pop spoke with rising anger.

“Well excuse me, but I actually think a personal reward was due for saving another innocent from escaped convicts, unlike your other dogs who sit around doing nothing while lives are at stake.” said Axel accusingly.

“THAT you did not report to me at once about while in the process and abandoned your patrol duties in order to do so. Don’t worry, your accomplices by inaction are under scrutiny too but really? Whoring yourself out to the person you saved like someone living at the brothel?” Pop did what he felt was decent and started picking up the clothes as he continued his lecture.

“Hey! I’m not ‘whoring’ myself out. I’m just trying to make my job more enjoyable and incentivized. Besides, you saw that piece of ass, who wouldn’t be able to resist that?” Objected Axel, desperately defending his actions, daydreaming if he could go find the mouse again and continue where they left off.

“Unlike you Axel, I have standards bigger than my pheromones. And if you need an incentive for your work, saving lives and upholding the kingdom’s integrity is more than enough for you. Disobedience and disrespecting the rules two times a week is not going to make your life feel enjoyable.” Axel held his chin on his hand and looked away.

“Stupid, sexy grouch.” Whispered Axel to himself. He had yet to try making a move on the captain, wishing he wasn’t so serious and scary all the time. Not to mention Pop had yet to actually court anyone or show signs of courtship since he became a widowed father to his son Cub. Axel was not afraid of ranks or divides between lovers and potential romances, he was used to a lifetime of breaking rules and pursuing what he felt was right for him. So something like this just felt like a slap to the face. Another potential love interest thinking of him in such a low manner. As Pop finished gathering the remnants of the mice’s clothes he turned to what was Axel’s pieces of armor lying on the floor and he scoffed in annoyance.

“Taking off your armor in a public inn, you couldn’t even bother dressing into something more casual. You had to wear the armor here so that everyone knew a knight was coming into this inn to fuck a mouse…”

“Ugh, who cares. We do our job, we protect people, we keep bandits from getting inside, patrol the perimeters, and take care of any potential incidents. It’s just armor anyway, it’s designed to protect, not to represent.” Axel downplayed unreasonably, he never did believe in armor as a reflection of where your loyalties are. If he could, he’d be a guardsman with no armor as he only saw them as heavy and cumbersome. It feels stupid, why can’t there be light armor instead of the traditional heavy armor. This isn’t a fashion show damn it! He ranted mentally.

Pop turned to Axel and glared at him. Axel had most definitely touched a nerve that the father bear would not forgive so quickly in addition to this display.

“Taking care of potential incidents is another issue I’ve experienced with you. The other knights told me how you dealt with that situation. Cold-blooded murder! You may think your suit doesn’t represent you in any shape or form but it represents your liege! What would the king say if his people feared the knights would one day turn on them?”

“Then maybe give more freedom. AKA, letting us choose what we can wear. If we want to wear something lighter let us. Armor doesn’t need to be too protective you know, it should also provide mobility. What if you have a new recruit who could barely lift the chestpiece-” Axel began, thinking he had proven a point, only for Pop to object straight away.

“So you refuse to acknowledge your overly violent methods either?! If freedom is what someone as unpredictable as you desires then so it shall be!” Axel was confused, it shall be? He thought that maybe Pop had finally seen reason to his perspective and perked his ears up.

“Sir Axel. You are stricken off active duty until further notice. You will not participate in any patrols, meetings, or knightly gatherings and attempting to do so on your own will result in being fired straight away. You are also to not perform any sort of knightly action unless you hear genuine cries of distress and you will be subject to the law as any citizen would should you try to use your usual methods. Execution is the punishment for murder. Surely with all this newfound ‘freedom’ you will be able to have as much ‘enjoyment’ as desired.” Pop sneered at Axel.

Axel’s ears drooped down and his jaw felt like it had dropped directly down on the ground. Axel never knew a life of being anything other than a guard. Sure the pay was meager but it was better than the boring life he found every other citizen to have. The prospect of finding a stray bandit had excited him, and the fame and glory that would come with it. And his dream job was about to be stripped off of him much as he had so eagerly stripped off his armor not that long ago. Perhaps this was some sort of cruel karmic retribution that the superstitious and the mages believed in.

“W-wait! Pop, er, captain Pop, you can’t just do this! Breaking the law as I do now, aren’t some of the heroic things I did acknowledged? I mean, that guy was going to take that mouse to places unknown and have his way with him.” said Axel, hoping this would reconsider his decision.

“Much like you attempted to have your way with that same mouse? Axel, I am tired of hearing reports on your reckless, rambunctious behavior and up until today I never heard of this inn. Yet now I’m certain many people will now hear that a knight has come to this inn and done the dirty deeds and spilled his milk all over this floor that Nutty have ought to clean out by now! A knight who had just killed somebody today!” Pop gave an exasperated huff, realizing his temper was getting the better of him.

Axel looked at him, and chuckled and tried his best to stop himself.

“Bwahahahaha! S-sorry, hehehe, it’s just funny. That of all the things that had gotten you the most it was me banging a hot femboy. I mean, since you’re practically a widower, I can understand that maybe you’re a bit jealous of me having ‘fun’ with the citizens. Although, if you’d like, I could take care of that...” Teased Axel, stroking his dick and giving the best seductive stare he can give, if he was going to be taken off duty, there wouldn’t be repercussions, and maybe get to bed this sexy bear once and for all.

Pop normally would not even react to such an offer but really the mortifying timing of Axel’s response to his comment, and the fear that Axel’s cock was hardening looked away in embarrassment. Regardless it took just a few seconds of looking away to harden his resolve and stare unflinchingly into Axel’s eyes. His patience had run out the moment he had seen Axel arrogantly disregard the kingdom’s ideology once again. ‘Fun’ came second to knighthood and making sure his son could have a wonderful and fulfilling life.

“I’ve taken care of you Axel. I’ve respected your combat prowess for years but you are not going to get your way by disrespecting ME with such a stupid offer or the kingdom by not defending it in a virtuous manner. Should I take away your armor so you run out naked into the town to get the hint or will you accept your new position as an off-duty knight?”

“Oh well, at least I tried,” Axel thought to himself, and continuing the conversation.

“I didn’t say anything about not accepting my new ‘position’ now did I?” said Axel, this bear was harder to tame from the beginning, and never did he expect him to be right now.

“I suppose that’s a start.” Pop said and made it clear he was not up for talking anymore with a firm shake of his head.

Pop started picking up the pieces of Axel’s armor and calmly make his way towards the door once they were all within his arms. His back was now turned to Axel’s.

“H-hey wait! At least throw in a shirt or something!” Said Axel, chasing after him but it was too late, he was already at the bottom of the stairs and catching up with him would mean public indecency which was punishable by being imprisoned publicly in a pillory and both being freely used and abused by the public. The knights would only let the victims go if they were hurt beyond what was deemed ‘humane’ or suffering from disease or curses or insanity. Either way, it was not the level Axel ever wanted to see himself fall to.

“Borrow something from Nutty. He’s surely glad to provide. Hopefully accepting your position will be the start in a virtuous and humbling experience. I have to return these clothes to that mouse you probably traumatized and file an official report to the king about being relegated to off-duty. Axel… goodbye.” Axel didn’t miss the small amount of sadness in Pop’s final words before the captain departed in a resolute manner.

Axel went back inside the room, said room still smelled of sweat and sex making him open the window to get a breath of fresh air. He frowned and complained about the ‘stupid sexy bear” as he enacted taking the bed’s covers and going downstairs to request for any spare clothes from Nutty. At least he knew that Nutty was innocent enough to not know what had gone on upstairs, or seeing the sexy rat escape out of the inn. Nutty was cleaning mugs and tasting sweets he had seemingly made when Pop had departed. Apparently, the departure of the guard captain had stirred the public and Pop left with clothes and armor in tow but not before firmly denying he had any involvement in the… messy business upstairs. He was bent over the table, his squirrely tail swishing to and fro as he did his chores, when Axel ran over with a grin. Despite being totally nude, Axel wasn’t concerned with humility as long as he was in this bar. Fortunately all the customers had left too making it easy to ask such a favor in a strange appearance.

‘Hey Nutty old pal” said Axel, patting Nutty on the back.

“Oh, hi Axel! Hey hey Axel, I saw this mouse leave without his clothes on and-” Any words Nutty had suddenly faded once he took in Axel’s full naked appearance. Muscles that were toned, the fur’s sheen quite splendid, and his wolven form fully present. Despite normally being distracted, he was able to come up with an appropriate response,

“Why are you in the nude!?" Nutty found himself blushing and his lazy eye suddenly finding renewed focus in something that wasn't a dessert.

Axel felt himself blush, public nudity wasn't one of his fortes and he didn't intend to make it his either. Although the much smaller, yet plump looking male looked like he could satisfy his sexual urges, he didn't want to ruin their already built friendship. Willing himself to remain soft, Axel tried his best to stay as casual as possible

"Hey Nutty old pal! I know that me being naked seems sudden but do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Axel asked, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Nutty didn't give much indication he had listened, staring intently at a certain lower area on Axel. But he then responded in a matter of factly way,

"You betcha!" Nutty skipped over to one of the closed doors around the bar and opened it, revealing a rack of clothes, shoes, some bags of sugar and flour, and cleaning utensils.

He pulled out what looked like a very colorful tunic in the colors of forest flowers and some sensible yet cut short striped pants in the color of lemons and limes. Axel raised an eyebrow. He knew Nutty to be a flamboyant friend all his life but he was wondering what kind of tailor he frequented that would make him such garish clothing. Regardless, it looked comfortable at the very least and the deed was more than anything Axel could appreciate at the moment.

"Uh, t-thanks Nutty. Appreciate it" said Axel, sweating up a storm to make it sound as genuine as possible, and took the outrageously ridiculous but comfortable garment off of Nutty's hands. Axel had begun dressing himself in front of the Lazy eyed innkeeper, earning a silent whimper of disappointment from him just before covering his lower area with the garments. Axel didn't miss the whimper with his acute wolf ears and felt bad about it. He quickly asked Nutty,

"You ok? I mean, I'll be fine. I'm sorry that I'm asking for favors from you so suddenly... shit just went down and I'll make it up to you when things get better. Promise."

He was reassuring the juicy squirrel that he really did take into account how much of a good friend Nutty was, even at the cost of his pride. One thing he never liked was having to accidentally hurt him. Not after having a bond of friendship since Nutty liked him so much after scaring off some locals that harassed his lazy eye and urged him to ‘sit on their lap’ was disgusting in his eyes. Since then, they'd become close to kin, maybe even more. But Axel wasn't going to ruin that because of his lust or give Pop the shame of knowing that his assumptions of Axel were right. However, he couldn't deny the unfinished business with the mouse. So he was going to have a rodent romp first, work on redeeming himself and sustaining himself after. Nutty smiled in a way that indicated newfound confidence had been instilled within him.

Nutty reassured Axel, 'All you need to do is give me sweets to make me happy. The inn's open anytime if you really need help. Just um... try not to anger anymore knights. Customers got shaky.'

Axel laughed. “Sorry. Pop has always been a shaky fella. He could stand to stop shaking and start being relaxed. See you around Nutty.” Axel said in a friendly manner, leaving Nutty to clean up the place. Axel started walking to the mouse boy's place, getting concealed laughs and giggles from the denizens of Bleakburn, he groaned audibly, couldn't Nutty have picked a better outfit? Or have a better sense of fashion?

Then again, he thought, Nutty's inn is already considered out of fashion for all the messes it makes. It showed Nutty as a bit of a rebel in that sense which Axel had to admire in him. Especially once he got to know him better. Axel admittedly had to wing a bit where the mouse lived, asking if anyone had seen him around and fortunately for him, most passerbys who had been around didn't know the context of the flight at all and so they gave him good directions on where he retreated to. It led him to one of the safer areas of Bleakburn's residential districts.

It was not hard to spot the cute mouse, white furred mice were a rare breed to see in this world. But Axel noticed that while the mouse was now fully clothed, two other mice, one of which was white and the other of a brown fur were with him. They didn’t seem his age luckily enough and one was female and another was male. Based on their poses of disapproval and scowling faces of disappointment, Axel concluded they were the mouse’s parents. As he approached, he heard their voices.

"I told you to never ever go out in public alone!" scolded the mother, the boy's head looked down in shame, obviously guilty for disobeying his parents

"And what's this business about sleeping with a knight!? Have you lost your mind!?" said his father, further intimidating and humiliating their own son.

Axel stopped his approach, watching the scene unfold with alarm after hearing the cries. Was this what resulted in his debauchery? Someone’s public humiliation and personal shame? Maybe... Maybe Pop was right. Approaching the troubled family would not turn out well in his book. He was not heartless, he was sensitive to other people's pain. Particularly those he wanted to be with for hopefully eternity. Even though he considered himself prone to casual fucking, he was always seeking to find a true love and true romance during it. Past experiences in his life showed it unfortunately hadn’t always worked out and this right now seemed like another one of these cases. Axel pondered what to do next, he couldn’t just leave the mouse humiliated and abused in public without a proper apology. The boy’s parents would surely stir more trouble for him and report him for some fabricated rape story. He figured the least he could do was write a letter to the boy, hoping that he will bear no ill will toward him. So he headed back to the inn, spotting Nutty, who had cleaned the last of the tables for the day and was about to wind down for the night. Nutty noticed Axel still wearing his borrowed clothes and was now very unsure of why Axel was here. Was he returning them early?

“Oh, Axel, I didn’t expect you to be back so soon,. Did the scary knight chew you out again?” asked Nutty, Axel scratched the back of his head, not wanting to explain to Nutty about the mouse’ predicament. More out of shame than secrecy.

“No, though I wish he hadn’t earlier. Hey, you have any quill and ink on you right now Nutty?” Asked Axel, hopefully, the mouse would understand that he was truly sorry for what had happened.

“I have one right here… Somewhere” said Nutty, rummaging through his drawers, tossing all sorts of junk away. He even had a pair of underwear inside which Axel figured came from some poor drunk who had casually shed his clothing and left it unknowingly.
Finally, he got what he had asked for, and thanked Nutty, heading up the stairs to sleep on the hay stuffed bed.

“And be careful what you write! It's been a long time since I wrote anything! Like a grocery list!” warned Nutty with a raised voice from downstairs, to this announcement, Axel opened the bottle of the ink on the room’s desk, rubbing the inside of the bottle with a finger, and sure enough, the remnants of the bottle’s content was empty save for a small amount on the bottom. Even if it was just a small amount, Axel figured it’d do wonders for the situation at hand. Besides he rarely used flowery poetry or overly formal language like the letters he received from Pop and Flippy.

He wrote down the letter, concentrating on what was deemed to be an acceptable apology for the embarrassment he gave the innocent boy.

To the Object of my Rescue and my Apology,

I apologize for my unruly behaviour since yesterday. I have dragged you to perform an act that was shameful and hedonistic with little consideration for your well-being. I hope you take this apology and we could look at one another as if this incident hadn’t happened. I do admit I was there to see you getting berated heavily by your mother and father, and like the coward I am, walked away from the scene. I hope you have endured and remained strong in spirit after that, I was just struck by your beauty that I couldn’t help myself but to take you. I realize I was wrong in that as well, I should have declined your offer of a reward. I should have just accepted your gratitude and have been done with it, saving you should have been reward enough. If you bear no ill will to me, and have grown independent in the future, I will offer you a place by my side. Not as an object to be ravaged, but maybe as my lover.

Yours truly,
A regretful knight

“I didn’t even get his name…” Axel reflected out loud, having justified this as to why he didn’t give his name in return on the letter.

It was more a respect of both of their privacy and a hope for this controversy to come to a thorough end. He folded the letter and held it tightly. The stamps he needed for this particular letter were back at home and these stamps bared the same royal crest that was on Pop’s armor and symbolized the king and his court. It was a way for civilians who received letters to know it came from the knights or the royals. Either way, it was time to finally head back to his home.

Heading down onto the inn’s ground floor, a gecko courier had entered the inn, ready to rest in the inn after a long day of running around and searching for people of importance. Nutty was nowhere in sight, having presumably retired for the night after a long and stressful day. The courier huffed rudely at the fact the innkeeper had dimmed the lights already. Axel had placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, you’re not for hire are you?” Axel asked the courier, the courier in turn stared silently and scanned his attire, getting a questionable look to Axel.

“Depends, if the coin is good enough” said the small gecko, Axel, had saved up quite a bit at home, and using it on this particular service was going to take quite a bit of his savings away, but he decided that preserving the honor of the knights he tainted was first priority. Pop would probably appreciate it as well, even if it was likely that the two of them would not be seeing each other for awhile.

“Yeah, wait for me at-” Started Axel, before being interrupted by the courier.

“You mean the one by the market district? Yeah, I know where you live. You’re the talk of the town judging by the gossip I heard and read. Stories of this caliber travel fast.” said the courier, Axel scoffed at him.

“Whatever, just do what I tell you tomorrow” said Axel, leaving the courier to his strut upstairs back to his room, taking note of how the inn seemed kind of lonely without Nutty’s presence, and left.

The night air was crisp and normally most people in Bleakburn were afraid to wander out at night. Axel always thought people were missing out on the beauty of the stars and moon but he supposed that his whole life thrived on the sensation of roaming the night. He considered himself more of a night owl than a day butterfly but he had enough energy to make any time of the day work for him and went at life with high energy. He arrived at his crooked home’s front-door, it looked like a stack of wood that had barely been put together, but it was home. Any money he did get from knightly duties were spent on more pleasurable commodities, food, and hygienic products. He was the kind of guy to stay over at someone else’s house if need be.

He was greeted with terribly ventilated air, he lazily set his things down, and decided he would change out of ridiculous attire tomorrow, he preferred to be comfortable tonight, preserving his dignity could come later tonight. Plopping down on the stiff bed and drawing the quilt over himself, he set aside his letter on the desk and closed his eyes. He fell into a benevolent, mercifully dreamless sleep.