Beth looked on in horror as she saw that Milly had not come back into the hut alone. Her hand was closed around the upper half of a human woman. The woman’s legs kicked wildly, and her screams were muffled by the hand.

“Just so you know, you can kill yourself if you want, but it won’t change anything,” Milly said to Beth, ice in her voice. “It will be your fault, not mine. Don’t think you can pull the same stunt on me.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” cried Beth. “But Milly, surely you understand-”

“I don’t want to hear it!” she yelled. “You hurt my friend! You played with her emotions! I don’t know why she sees you as a friend in the first place!”

“But Milly… I had a good reason! You don’t have to forgive me. But don’t hurt that woman! She has nothing to do with any of this!”

“This human is my prey. I caught it fair and square. And you don’t get to tell me what to do. The only reason I won’t kill you right now is because I don’t want to hurt Crisis. But I’m fed up with you, and I’ll tell her as much when she gets back. You’re a bad influence.”

“Say what you want about me, but I saved a life. Maybe many lives. And I’m trying to save another one right now. Let her go. Just because you’re bigger and stronger, doesn’t mean you should just horribly kill everyone you come across! Even Crisis is starting to see that, and she’s more of a predator than you!”

“Crisis is… a bit impressionable. You really hurt her, you know that? She ran away from me in tears, said she needed time to think! Gods only know where she is now! I’m worried about her!”

“I’m sorry!” cried Beth, tears beginning to fall. “I really am! But you have to understand! My goal wasn’t to hurt her! But she was hurting others, and once she understood that… of course it would hurt! But that’s better than letting something like that go unaddressed! I think that’s the best a friend can do!”

“You’re an awful friend,” Milly spat. “You hurt her, shamed her, just to push your ideology. Friends tolerate each other, understand each other.”

“I can’t just tolerate something like that!”

“Too bad. You can be hateful if you want. But eventually you have to accept it, because that’s just how this world works.”

Beth and the woman both screamed in protest as Milly dropped her into her mouth.

Just then, Crisis entered the room. She looked to be in a somewhat better mood, and had a neko on her shoulder. At first, Beth thought this was a bad sign, but when she saw that the neko was not struggling or fighting, she was just confused. She hoped Crisis could help somehow, but she wasn't too hopeful.

Milly smiled broadly. “Crisis!” Her voice was excited, but muffled a bit and mixed with screams. Crisis cringed a bit as she caught a glimpse of the woman struggling inside as she talked. “Hi, Milly.”

Milly swallowed, then spoke. “Sorry. I know it’s rude to talk with my mouth full. I’m so glad you’re back! Where’d you get that?” She gestured to the neko on her shoulder.

“This is Chief Greenhill of the Pazuns.”

Milly’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard of them. Some of those damn nekos I caught eating my Alsumis were Pazuns. Are you going to eat it or should I?”

Crisis smiled. “Neither! They won’t be a problem for you anymore. I got him to agree that his tribe will stop eating tomthumbs!”

Milly blinked. “What? How’d you manage that?”

“Simple! I don’t eat his people, they don’t eat yours!”

Milly bristled. “You can’t just trust him on that! It’s in their nature! Why don’t you just eat them? Then they definitely won’t eat my Alsumis!”

“I couldn’t eat all of them,” she replied. “Not all the nekos in this forest. And those who remained would no longer have any reason to stop. If we’re just going to try to eat them anyway, why not try to sneak ‘food’ out from under our noses? With this, anyone who keeps doing it… eventually several tomthumbs will see them, tell me, and then I’ll eat them, and only them. The Pazuns will cooperate with this, because they need to keep my support. Right, Greencloud?”

The neko sighed, seeming defeated. “Right.”

Milly just seemed bewildered now. “But Crisis… why go to all this trouble? Why not just eat them until they run away? You love nekos!”

“I do like them… but… I’m done with that, Milly. Humans, nekos, tomthumbs… they’re all just like us. They all want to live, far more than we want a snack. Your tomthumbs are even smaller than humans, and yet you care about them so much more! Why? I’m not going to ignore their screams and pleas for mercy anymore. Not now that I know what it’s like being one of them. You’d understand if anyone did the same thing to you.”

Beth looked at Crisis in awe. She knew she should be elated. She had probably just saved literally hundreds or even thousands of people from a horrible fate, but at this point she just felt exhausted, physically and emotionally. She needed a rest from… this… at some point, or she felt she would go insane. She still hadn’t saved that woman, but at least… she’d done what she could. It was more than she had thought she could do.

“I don’t get it, Crisis!” Milly’s eyes watered. “That’s not the Crisis I knew! I don’t know how you can say that! You’ve always been a predator, and you’ve never had a problem with it before!”

“I’m sorry, Milly. You’ll just have to accept it. But I do think this can help you! Soon there won’t be any more nekos bothering you anymore! Your tribe will gain more freedom!”

“Maybe,” said Milly, not seeming to believe it. “I guess we’ll just have to see.”

Beth cut in. “Rose has already sworn to stop eating them, even before any of this, before there was any benefit to her! People can change! I’m not sure I like the means but… Crisis, I’m so glad you’ve come to see this!”

Milly raised her eyebrow. “Really? After she’d already been let go, and before anyone made any threats?” She sighed. “Maybe this can work. I don’t know. This just seems so sudden and strange to me, you know what I mean?”

“I know what you mean,” said Crisis. “Believe me. It’s been strange for me too. I didn’t even know this world existed a day ago, and now it’s my home and always has been. But I really think this is the best for everyone.”

She picked up Beth and Rose from the table. “Think about it,” she said. “Give this idea a chance. I really think it can work out! I’m going to go take Greencloud here back to his people.”

“Alright,” sighed Milly. “See you later, I guess.”

Maybe it was just the feeling of relief, but as they left the hut and slithered through the forest once again, Beth couldn’t help but feel that this place looked a lot brighter than it had the day before.