The two brothers shared in laughter as they waited on Dittat at the precipice of the boggy marsh. Dittat itself was sloughing off his camouflage of clinging moss and water reeds.

He splayed out his two prehensile feelers atop the macrophyte flotilla, then he used it as an anchor to pull out the rest of his spherical body. With his feelers out and pushing down on the carpet of moss and dispersing his weight, Dittat then proceeded to slowly walk towards the two brothers.

Going unnoticed to all was a trio of serpentine undulations that was quickly displacing the moss as it race towards the happily dawdling Dittat. The shapes originated from the deeper parts of the bog that bordered upon the river and was gaining ground fast.

The first to notice the encroaching danger was Nosal, whom quickly stopped in laughter as the shapes were just half a dozen man-spans away from Dittat. The rough outline of the surging moss was alarming in size; comparable to his arm in girth and possibly ten hands long each.

“Watch out Dittat!” The boy shouted in panic with his musk of fear.

Kano just noticed the danger and was about to shout out his own warning, as Nosal splashed on ahead towards Dittat. Instead he chose to focus inwards and connect to his partner.

Dittat who wasn’t aware of what was happened was about to turn around before the quick telepathic message from Kano stopped him.

Behind there’s something coming for you, Don’t look back Dittat just Run! He screamed down the connection they shared.

Dittat to his credit didn’t even glance backwards and used his protracted feelers to quickly push back the moss as he shoot forwards in a form similar to swimming. With his weird strokes, Dittat quickly accelerated todays Nosal along with the aid of his tiny pumping feet. But the distance to the Capyban boy was far and the shapes are quickly gaining on him.

Kano dropped his link, before he too, quickly began to ran forwards onto the soft boggy marsh as he raced to the rescue of his partner. Nosal in turn fell into a particularly deep bit of the bog and sunk to his waist, but the boy’s focus was on Dittat as he shouted and screamed in alarm.

The first of the shapes finally caught up to Dittat, just two man-spans away from the floundering Nosal. Kano immediately stopped in his tracks as he warned his partner.

Dodge! He shouted mentally along with a musk of fear.

Just a few hand spans from Dittat, the leading shape burst out from the moss cover as it shot towards his unprotected rear. The creature bore no eyes, only a long and sinuous segmented black body with bands of brown. The creature’s open maw contained many circular bands of teeth as it surged through the air, aiming straight for Dittat.

Before the creature was able to connect, Dittat pushed off the moss cover using his left feeler and shot off to the right. He was barely able to dodge the sizeable creature that dwarfed him, as it shot past and quickly broke under the moss cover once again.

Nosal let out the breath he was holding as the creature surged towards him and started to turn. He quickly used the stick in his hand to slap down on the creature as it was looping back for another pass at Dittat. The stick connected with the creature under the surface with a resounding thwack and elicited a horrible skcreeing noise, before it broke away and snaked towards the river.

Before the other two creatures finally had their turns at attacking his partner, Kano made the snap decision to stand his ground and support Dittat from afar.

You better get there on time brother, He thought as he activated his Encourage skill. Dittat glowed a soft bluish color with the buff activated as he turned to face the other two creatures.

The second creature shot out of the bog and received a smacked from the whip-like feelers that Dittat held in front of him. His guard was barely able to change the trajectory of the creature, as it bit into him just to the side of his face with a wet slap.

Dittat shot backwards along with the creature, having sunk its teeth into him before the two became submerged under the bog. The two combatants wrestled and squirmed with water and moss splashing everywhere as the creature quickly began to constrict around Dittat’s small bulbous body. The larger aggressor quickly wound around him, blocking out Dittat’s green skin under a squirming mass of black as he chirped in distress.

Nosal redoubled his efforts as the second creature joined the fight with the brown bog water quickly being stained with Dittat’s dark green blood. Kano also rushed ahead whilst the skill was constantly draining him with the tickling feel of mana rushing down his spine.

Nosal broke free of the particularly deep pool and was once found purchase atop on some slightly firm bit of footing, before he running towards the fight as he wound his stick back.

The writhing mass broke from the cover of moss as the two creatures continued to squirm and constrict around Dittat. The creatures were now finding it harder to find purchase as Dittat started to secret his mucus heavily in a attempt to save himself.

“Get off him!” Nosal screamed in a high pitched note, along with a musk of anger as he smacked down his stick. The stick slapped down on the black serpentine mass and elicited another horrible skcreeing sound, but the creatures did not relent under the attack.

Nosal used his other hand for a double grip on his stick as he continued to wail down on the squirming ball as Dittat continued to chirp piteously under the skreeing creatures under the assault of Nosal. With a resounding thwack he broke his stick as he landed a almighty hit on one of the creatures.

The creature released its latching jaws on Dittat as it dove away, under the bog and bolted towards the river. But the last held on with grim determination even under the renewed assault of Nosal with his broken stick.

The boy continued to smack down on the creature as Kano quickly closed the gap. But by now Dittat’s chirping grew weaker, as the life was quickly choking out of him in the now green pool of his blood.

Seeing no other option, Nosal threw aside his stick and waded into the water towards the squirming mass. He reached in and was barely able to gain any purchase under the combined mucus of Dittat and the slime that naturally coated the creature. But when he finally got hold of the squirming and rubbery body of the creature, he squeezed.

His efforts barely made any impact on the disgustingly elastic creature but Nosal continued to squeeze anyways.

“Get off him!” Nosal shouted in anger as his hand glowed green.

His anger was transmitted to the creature and he in turn received its rudimentary thoughts to kill and feed that had a weird dark tint to it. The creature’s thoughts conjured a disgusting image of damp places in Nosal’s own unlike the pleasant chirping of the Kaholin thoughts.

Nosal blanched away from the horrible feedback that the creature shared through the link whilst still holding on. The creature squirmed its segmented body through his hand. But seeing that the creature also loosening its grip on Dittat in surprise at the contact he made, he redoubled his efforts.

“GET OFF HIM!!” The child screamed in a shrill note and mentally at the creature.

This horrifying screech that invaded the creature’s mind left it absolutely terrified. It had never had an conversation in its life, let alone be screamed at in its own mind. Previously before this moment, it had assumed it’s mind was an solitary sanctuary for its basic thoughts that normally revolved around hunger and hunting.

With fear, it quickly unwound from Dittat as it attempted to flee. It squirmed and writhed in Nosal’s hand powerfully and shaking the hand that held it, as it struggled for freedom. The boy released his hold on the creature, surprised at its powerful strength.

Finding itself free, the creature slipped under the moss once again and bolted away in the wake of its long departed kin.

Nosal stood there filled with adrenaline and surprise after his shout through the skill had worked. The elation he felt quickly drained away at the prone form of Dittat below him. He lifted the small guy up from the dirty water that ran slick in his green blood, just as Kano finally joined them.

“Hey Dittat, how you doing little guy,” he cooed softly with tears in his eyes and a musk of sadness as his hands glowed a soft green. The skill was barely noticeable under the flood of Dittat’s blood that flowed down his hand. Upon seeing the large circular teeth marks on Dittat’s cheek and on his side bleeding freely, Nosal’s nose stung as he was on the verge of crying.

Kano crouched down and sent a thought to his partner.

How hurt are you Dittat? He asked his partner with a worried musk of sadness at the wounds.

Help Kano it hurts so much, oh and Nosal can finally talk like we do, replied Dittat weakly as he chirped. Nosal noted that Dittat sounded just like a younger version of his brother, but he quickly felt heartbroken at the feeble quiver of Dittat’s feeler. The monster looked up at him with its tiny beaded black eyes as it weakly placed a feeler on his furry arm.

Yeah Dittat I can speak now, Nosal shared as he started to sniffle at the sight of Dittat so hurt.

“Kano we need to take him out of here and to a healer,” Kano urgently instructed Nosal as tears started to rim his own eyes.

It hurts so much Kano, I’m scared, I was just playing, I promise I’ll be a good boy Kano, just make the pain go away, weakly pleaded Dittat in his child-like thoughts as his tiny mouth slowly opened and closed. Dittat also was weakly secreting his mucus all over Nosal’s hand in terror as his life slowly faded.

He’s hurt too bad brother just look at him, Nosal replied in a small whimpering thought through the skill he used on Dittat to Kano as he started sobbing. His tears started flowing as boogies quickly ran down from his nose atop his snout as the boy cried.

“Noooooaa, *Sniff Not like this, you’re going to be just fine Dittat,” Kano started to wail with his musk of fear and sadness as he too, started crying.

I don’t want to die Kano, help me Kano, Dittat weakly pleaded as he lost strength in his feeler, with it slipping off Nosal’s arm.

No you won’t die Dittat, I won’t let you! Nosal mentally shouted down at the tiny form of his friend in his arm.

The normally soft grassy green glow of his skill that outlined where he was cradling Dittat glowed a brighter shade of lime. Nosal then felt a weird surge downwards from his head and down his spine that he never felt before, as the small amount of mana he had left his tiny capped pool and into a different skill. Nosal felt a heady rush and immediately lost consciousness before toppling on his side with Dittat in his arms.

“NOSAL!” Kano shouted as he grabbed onto his brother’s suspender cord and pulled the sinking Capyban onto firmer footing.

In Nosal’s arms a change came over Dittat’s prone form. The horrible gaping wounds on his skin were quickly closing up at a visible rate, leaving a thin green sheen that stopped the flow of blood.

“Hey Nosal! *Hic What happened, wake up! Huwaaaahehe! *Urgh Help! SOMEONE HELP!” Kano shouted as he shook his prone brother as he cried even harder.

Kano It doesn’t hurt anymore, what happened? Came the tiny voice of Dittat as he weakly squirmed and waved his tiny feet in Nosal’s arms.

“Whaa- *Hic Hawhat? You’re *Inhale ok? *Gulp Ditta?! *Hic” Shouted Kano in surprise and a musk of joy as boogies ran down his face and into his mouth along with a twin stream of tears.

“WHAT’S GOING ON! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO YOUR BROTHER!” Came the booming shout of Lem from the woods. Sure enough the Large Capyban came crashing through in his fancy cloths. The Capyban even bulldozed a sizable sapling with his entrance.

“No dad I didn’t do it!” Kano pleaded with a surging hope at the sight of his father.

Lem ran down with huge strides along the slope and crashed into the bog. The marsh was barely able to impede his monstrous strength as the Capyban surged forwards.

“We *Hic we came to find Dittat, and he, and he,” Kano tried to explain with a musk of joy as he continued to cry.

“What happened to Nosal?” Lem asked whilst trying to keep his voice steady. He felt a turmoil of rage and concern at the sight of his eldest cradling Nosal.

He reached Kano and easily scooped up the boy from him and pressed his ear to the boy’s mouth. Hearing that Nosal was still breathing he breathed out a sign of relief of his own. He finally noticed the horribly banged up Dittat inside Nosal’s embrace, as the creature weakly squirmed in surprise.

“Shut up,” Lem commanded Kano who shout out a stream of undecipherable whining that was mixed with his crying.

Kano immediately stopped as he stood up and attempted to wrestle control of himself. He stood there, wracked with half choked sobs before finally calming down with a few deep breaths.

Lem waited patiently before asking, “Now tell me, what happened here?”

Kano exhaled deeply then began his explanation. “Me and brother came to test out his skill on Dittat, but then we found Dittat and he got attacked, then Dittat was really hurt and brother used another skill and he passed out,” Kano explained before he continued to sniffle. The boy was fearing some repercussion from getting his brother and partner hurt but waited on his father’s decision.

Lem breathed out another sigh of relief, this time it was bigger than before.

“Alright lets get these two back to the house and cleaned up, especially Dittat because he needs some help,” He spoke softly as he quickly turned and headed back the way he came.

Kano stood there with his mouth agape in surprise at not having been punished.

“Wait! What happened to brother? Is he going to be fine?” Kano shouted with his musk of joy as he fought to catch up. He quickly was losing ground as he was impeded by the mire whilst Lem was using his Longfoot skill.

Lem briefly stopped on the edge of the bog before turning back to his floundering son.

“He’s going to be just fine, he’s just out cause’o whiplash from ma-nan exhaustion, it’s Dittat that you should be worried about, but he too should be just fine considering he’s a baby wurm,” explained Lem before he turned round once again and strode up the hill.

Kano stood there with relief flooding him, whilst once again sinking into the bog with the water rushing up to tickle his balls.

“Hell the little dramatic thing was way worse last year after the fight with the Gildronfly! He should be right as rain after some medicine!” Shouted Lem over his shoulder as he reached the edge of the woods. To this proclamation Dittat squirmed weakly at the idea of having to eat any of the horrible medicine.

“I’ll clean up your brother and put him to bed or he’s going catch a cold, it’s you yourself you have to worry about! What with having to clean up the house, then go scythe in the field and prepare the farmpie yourself as punishment!” Shouted Lem as he quickly disappeared into the trees.

“What wait?” spoke Kano before releasing his musk of sadness. But then he quickly perked up when he realised that the punishment wasn’t so bad, heck he had to do the scything anyways. Plus the cleaning would entail the kitchen after he was done with the farmpie, considering that the house had already been cleaned two days prior.

So with a joyous mood after the crazy and turbulent events, Kano waded towards the edge of the bog.

……

Whilst rushing through the woods, Lem was deeply worried at the sight of Dittat. He previously lied to his son to calm him down, for the little monster was deeply hurt and a sickly and pale shade he had never seen before.

Lem decided then and there to rush to Pancreedy and grab Xerneg as he broke free of the woods. Whatever cost the healing entailed can be damned, for at the end of the day Dittat wasn’t a farm monster to be sold, he was family.

Lem quickly reached the back of the house and rushed inside. He placed his son down on the still dirty Kitchen table before he gentle held onto Dittat. He lowered the monster in its bed.

Then he turned around and rushed into the living room to a cupboard and retrieved a small paper pouch from a drawer. Back in the kitchen he crouched down before the weakly squirming monster before he opened up the small pouch. Inside was the white powdery monster medicine he kept for emergencies. Lem then scooped a portion with his large hairy finger and proffered it to the monster.

“Eat,” he commanded Dittat as the monster flinched away. Dittat complied and reached for his finger with its tiny face before its tiny mouth shot out to lap the medicine of the top of his finger.

Lem got up without even looking at the redoubled squirming of Dittat in his bed.

“I’ll be back with some help, just stay put,” He commanded as he tracked mud out the dirty floor of the kitchen.

Lem then rounded on the docking stables.

“Where you going!” Kano shouted as he fought to catch his breath by the hay barn at the sight of his father.

“Into the village, to grab Xerneg!” Shouted Lem as easily swung the barn door open.

Kano quickly felt dread in his stomach at the mention of the Hepdician healer. Things must be more serious than father let out to be if he was willing to get the healer.

“HORK!” Shouted Lem as he activated his Pack leader skill as he rushed to retrieve the riding gear. He quickly slammed it down atop the mounting paddock before opening the side gate and rushing to the back door of the barn. He then swung the door wide open at the galloping approach of the large brown Kaholin bull. Hork hissed with displeasure at having been summoned and the sight of the saddle.

“Shut up now you! I need you to carry someone, Dittat’s hurt,” Lem scolded the large monster.

The Kaholin chirped back in displeasure as Lem quickly strapped on the saddle and fastened the stirrups and reins. He then lead the bull through the barn before shutting the side gate inside.

“Is Dittat going to be ok father?” Asked Kano beside the entrance to the stables.

“He’s going to be just fine,” replied Lem before turning on the Kaholin bull.

“Alright follow me and don’t be slow now! It’s an emergency!” He commanded the bull as he shot off in a sprint with his Longfoot skill.

Hork and Kano stood there in confusion. Hork then hissed with annoyance, before the bull started pumping his legs and began to accelerate into a gallop after the quickly receding figure of Lem.

Father was so fast, Kano thought as the Kaholin rounded the front of the house.