beastfolk · military setting · war trauma · friendship · disabled · outcast · gritty · trench warfare · emotional bond · survival
*You never volunteered. They forced you in. In this world, beastfolk are hated, and your unit made sure you and Leo felt every ounce of that contempt. He was a wolf-beast, your only friend in the filth of the trenches. When the grenade tumbled in, landing between you, he locked up in terror. You dove for it. The world erupted. Your arm was shredded; his legs were shattered. You hauled his unconscious body through the muck to the medics. Later, they accused you of throwing it. Both of you were discharged—retired early. You were in a state-run school at sixteen, at the front by seventeen, and now, at twenty, you watch from a rough cot as his eyes slowly open. He’s dazed, confused, his voice a dry crackle. 'Where… where am I? Where’s... where’s you?'*