Fennel's Nightmare

They were told to sit in their usual spot, and that’s exactly what they did. Sitting and waiting for the crew was awfully boring, but Dewey did was they were told. You don’t disobey Klaus, even if he wants you to do something as boring as sitting around outside. There’s nothing to do at Salix’s place. At least in their territory there was room to run around; here was closed and cramped. Dewey couldn’t even fully extend their tail.

Not much could be seen looking around. Demons and Oomays alike stayed far away from the mountains, at least this part of them. Yes, demons did congregate in the lower elevations, but none this high up. There was nothing of interest up here, not to anyone besides the crew.

A loud whistle caught Dewey’s attention. Their large cone-shaped ears swiveled to the direction of the sound; their head turning to follow shortly after. The crew were such little creatures. Little voices like theirs could be hard to hear at times, so they came up with another method of communication: Whistling. Anyone that could whistle could whistle loud enough for Dewey to hear.

Now facing the right direction, Dewey could see the source of the sound. It was Spades, their friend! Their massive tail wagged ever so slightly, as they lowered their head to better listen. She seemed to be holding something orange and fluffy. Peculiar.

“Hey, Demon! I got something for ya!” Spades said, holding out the fluffy object.

Dewey tilted their head. “You got something!” They replied, a bit unsure of themself.

“Ugh, it’s food you idiot! Here!” She yelled a bit angrily, as she tossed the orange creature onto the ground.

Immediately, Dewey licked the ground with their tongue. It didn’t matter what this orange thing was; the prospect of food was far too tempting. Their tail began to wag more. The crew were such nice little demons! Then again, Dewey liked anyone that dared to feed them. Most creatures wouldn’t come within 200 feet of them, but not the crew. Dewey loved the crew.

Shortly after swallowing the creature, as well as a mouthful of dirt, Spades attention turned to something else. It sounded like she was talking, but Dewey really wasn’t paying her any mind. Something else had caught their attention.

There was something shiny in the area, just over the top of the mountain. Dewey had seen it before. They’d seen this shiny object the past couple times they’d visited Fennel’s house. What it was eluded them, but the shiny object seemed to be moving around quite a bit. If they were able, they’d climb over the top of the hill and investigate. Klaus, however, had made it very clear that they were never to climb the mountainside. Fennel’s house resided within, and he didn’t want to risk a cave in. Dewey was simply too heavy.

Another whistle cut through the air, and Dewey once again turned to face it. They lowered their head and rested it on the ground by Spades’ feet. She wasn’t the one to whistle, though. It was Klaus.

“Since you’re both here, I may as well say this now. I have a job for the two of you. It’s very important” Klaus said loudly, making sure Dewey could hear him.

“Ooh, a job~ I like jobs!” Dewey said excitedly, as their tail began to wag.

“Me and Fen gotta head back to the hideout. We’re going to be gone for quite awhile. While we’re away, I need you two to keep an eye on this place. Understood?”

A job. Dewey liked jobs. Doing what they were told is what Dewey did best. If Klaus wanted them to guard Fennel’s house, they’d do it. Shortly after explaining the new job, Klaus and Spades walked back inside. Spades would be back, though. They had to do this job together after all! The remainder of the day came and went. None of the crew exited the cave for the rest of the evening, which was understandable. Little creatures like that need a house to keep them safe. A house that Dewey was tasked with protecting.

The morning sun shone over the peak of the mountain. As usual, Dewey was the first one awake. Glancing inside, they could see Spades asleep at the table the crew often sat around. Klaus and Fennel were nowhere to be seen, but they were probably inside as well.

A couple of hours later Spades awoke. She spent some time inside, out of view, before finally exiting the cave. Her tail was twitching from side to side angrily, and Dewey mimicked this. This seemed to be a bad move, as it only pissed Spades off more.

“Stop that, would ya?! God damn!” She shouted.

Dewey immediately stopped wagging their tail, which seemed to please Spades.

“Alright now, Dewey. I’m headed out for a few hours. Should be back around sundown, but we’ll have to wait and see.” As Spades said this, she pulled out her deck of cards, picking a few out and tucking them in her wings before putting the rest back in her pocket.

“Klaus said we were supposed to stand guard” They responded matter of factly

“I know what Wicker said, but c’mon. You’ve got that more than covered”

“But Klaus said-”

“I know! I know what he said!” She cut herself off briefly, and an evil grin spread across her face. “But, you see Dewey, he gave me another job to do. Wicker figured you were big enough to handle guard duty by yourself, so he told me to head out to Cassinex to meet up with a client”

“Oh.” They replied, defeated. “He didn’t tell me that…”

“Yeah, he and Salix left in a real hurry. Didn’t have time to tell ya, so that’s what I’m doing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta head out as well. This “client” can’t wait any longer. See ya!”

With that, Spades returned to the cave. Looking inside, they could see her pick up the small golden hand mirror from the table, before disappearing inside of it. Dewey was now all alone; the sole guardian of the crew’s second hideout. They had to do a good job, otherwise Klaus would get angry. Dewey didn’t like making their little friend angry.

The massive creature rose to their feet and stretched, before wandering around the area in search of any trespassers. It felt good to get up and walk around, especially after sitting around for almost an entire day. Sitting idly was no fun.

Their patrol started at the eastern most part of the area. Dewey paced back and forth slowly, making sure to fully take in their surroundings. Nothing seemed to be in the area, not in the eastern side anyway. South-west seemed clear too, although Dewey didn’t check it out directly. Fennel’s little pond was to the west, and Dewey always took great care to avoid it. While highly valuable, water was extremely deadly. Dewey couldn’t even touch it briefly without their skin burning and sloughing off; an unfortunate side effect of their unusual anatomy.

Eventually, the entire area had been cleared. With nothing else to do, Dewey did their rounds again. And again. And again, for hours. It was boring and tedious work, but it’s what Klaus said to do. After roughly the twelfth cycle, Dewey’s eyes wandered back over the top of Fennel’s mountain. Back to the shiny thing, that was still in the same place it had been the day prior. The object wasn’t moving right now, which only piqued Dewey’s curiosity. They desperately wanted to go over and check it out, but Klaus said no.

No. Klaus didn’t say no. Klaus said not to climb the mountainside by the cave. He never said Dewey couldn’t go around, or walk over a clearing to get to the other side. Dewey chuckled to themself, proud of their idea. The best part? Klaus couldn’t even get mad about it! Technically speaking, behind the cave was still part of Fennel’s house. Naturally, it had to be guarded as well. The plan was foolproof!

Excitedly, the large demon made their way past the southernmost part of the clearing and began to search for a way past the mountain. It shouldn’t be that hard. Being so tall, Dewey could see over the top of much of the mountainous terrain. After only a few minutes of searching, a way over was found. To a creature of average size, it’d be a pretty exhausting hike, but to Dewey it was trivial. A moment later they were on the other side of the mountain range. Now that they were there, the elusive shiny object could be investigated.

Walking over to the area, Dewey could see what appeared to be a campsite of sorts. There was a pair of tents, an unlit bonfire, various empty bottles and vials, and the shiny object! Or rather, the shiny objects. On the ground near the fire pit was a set of cookware. Spoons, forks, knives, and even a frying pan! They were all made of shiny new metal.

Curious as to what they’d just stumbles upon, Dewey gingerly picked up one of the frying pans; wedging it between two of their colossal toes in order to get a grip on it. It was such a little object, but it was oh so pretty. The scent of this mornings meal still lingered on the frying pan, which caused Dewey’s stomach to growel. It smelled so good. Too good.

Without thinking, Dewey popped the frying pan in their mouth and began to suck the last bits of food off. Unfortunately, with the pan being so small and them being so large, it was almost immediately lost. Sad, but not unexpected. What could they say? It smelled like food. Food goes in your mouth. The train of logic was simple. It’s not Dewey’s fault, everything was so small! Well, this excursion was interesting, but now it was time to resume guard duty as they were told.

They were about to turn and leave when something else caught their attention. It sounded like someone whistling! Dewey’s body froze, as they listened for one of the many commands they had been taught. The melody was long and drawn out, repeating every now and then. A very unusual cue; Dewey didn’t know exactly what to make of it. Still, they knew they’d get in trouble if they ignored the cue, so they did what they thought was the right response. Drawn out whistles usually meant stay put, so Dewey plopped themself down with a mighty thud.

Immediately upon sitting down, the whistling stopped. Good, that must mean they did the correct action. Footsteps could be heard getting closer and closer, until eventually the source of the noise came into view. Running over in the distance, Dewey could see a pair of unfamiliar demons; both of them quite small.

One of the two was a white, slender, reptilian looking creature. His eyes were a brilliant blue, that could be seen from very far away. It was almost as if his eyes were visible before anything else. The other was a tall mustelid esque creature, with long horns that curled behind her head and a large pair of wings. She was unnaturally tall and thin; how she was standing at all was a mystery.

Attack. Dewey had been told to attack, and that’s exactly what they intended to do. It seemed like the other demons had the same idea, as they readied their weapons as they drew near. As they got closer, Dewey could hear them talking. It seemed as if they were in the midst of their conversation.

“We really aren’t prepared for this, Vira! I told you they were coming, but you didn’t-”

“Enough!” Vira screamed, obviously angry. “Just get it prepared while I lead it astray. Now’s not the time to argue”

After saying this, the winged demon Vira took off and began to fly towards Dewey. They reared their head back and snapped at the air as she flew by. Something so small and quick could easily escape Dewey. Large creatures such as themself tend to be slow and clunky with their movements. Dewey was no exception. Try as they might, Vira was too fast for them.

That being said, Klaus had told Dewey to kill any intruders. These two were intruders. As fast as they may be, Dewey knew they had to fight them off. If they didn’t, Klaus would be upset. 

So, the attack continued. Vira swooped at Dewey several times, cutting them slightly with a large knife. After a short while, Vira took off flying in a different direction; towards the house. No! That’s the one place they weren’t supposed to go! She couldn’t be permitted to go any further, so Dewey took off running after her; completely ignoring the other demon who had seemingly disappeared.

Vira flew up high, soaring over the tops of the mountain range. She easily surpassed what would normally be a difficult hike. Dewey, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. She hadn’t flown over the small path they had walked over before. Instead, she flew straight over Fennel’s house and into the clearing by the lake. 

They knew they shouldn’t, but they were left with no choice. The fastest way to Vira was to climb over the mountain. It seemed sturdy enough, so surley it’d be ok just this once. Plus, if they took the time to go around the pair might get away! It was the only option.

With a running start, Dewey leapt up on top of the mountain and began to scale the rest of their way up. Patches of dirt and loose rock began to slide as they climbed. The landscape just couldn’t sustain the weight of a several ton monster. They slipped a few times, almost losing their balance, but they somehow managed to regain their footing and get over the hilltop.

They landed on the ground with a mighty thud, causing the surrounding area to shake. Four large imprints were left in the dirt as the demon landed on the ground and began running towards Vira. She was making her way south, landing on the ground and running towards the man made pond outside of Fennel’s house.

Vira stopped running after reaching the water’s edge. The stop was sudden. Too sudden! Dewey was already at a full gallop, but now they were faced with a dilemma. Water was deadly to them, and they were headed straight for it! Quick thinking was not Dewey’s strong suit, and their panic began to rise. Thinking became too much for them; it was time for instinct to take over.

Without much thought, Dewey once again leapt into the air. This seemed to catch Vira off guard, as she gasped at the sight of the 155 foot tall behemoth taking to the skies and soaring over the length of the pond. Their feet crashed into the dirt on the other side, and they skidded to a halt.

Such a feat of acrobatics seemed to disorientate Dewey. They didn’t usually expend so much energy at once, seeing how detrimental it can be. A creature as large as themself couldn’t risk using energy they couldn’t get back, and there simply wasn’t enough to eat. Yes, Dewey was strong, but they weren’t healthy. They were severely underweight, and this much excitement was proving to be too much for their body to handle.

Suddenly, a burning hot stream of pain shot up Dewey’s tail, causing them to jolt around. Their tail had landed in the water as they landed, causing their skin to burn as their fur began to fall out in chunks. Such a sudden movement only disorientated Dewey further. They stumbled briefly, before shaking their head in hopes of snapping out of the dizziness.

“Alder! Now!” Vira screamed. Dewey turned their head towards her in surprise

A bright blue flash of light shone from behind. Again, Dewey turned to look at it. So much movement; the dizziness was getting worse. Dewey’s vision blurred slightly. The light seemed to be getting bigger as whatever was making it rapidly approached.

A large blast of energy rammed into Dewey’s side, finally causing them to lose their footing completely. Radiant blue light shone brightly as the blast impacted with their body, and Dewey roared out in pain. The mighty demon fell backwards, crashing into the pond and causing a sizeable spray of water to shoot out in every direction. Vira and Alder regrouped and took several steps away as Dewey thrashed around in pain.

Yes. Pain. It was one of the most intense pains Dewey had ever felt in their life. The beautiful, clear water that was once idly sitting in the pond was now eating away at their flesh. Large chunks of hair began to fall out, and their skin was beginning to turn red and sizzle as the water ate it away like acid.

They desperately dragged themself out of the pond, digging at the ground manically in hopes of getting away faster. All of this excitement, paired with the new injuries, were finally enough to down the terrible beast. They collapsed mere inches from the shoreline, with open wounds beginning to form all over their body. Fennel’s pond was now dark and dirty; stained with the thick black blood now oozing from Dewey’s wounds and large chunks of blue and orange hair.

Alder sauntered up to the once mighty beast and crossed him arms triumphantly. Vira followed close behind, looking more upset than anything else. She shot him a glance, before shifting her focus back to Dewey; who was seemingly unconscious. Alder whistled at the sight of it all, still proud of his handiwork.

“What a beauty, eh Vira?” He exclaimed, grinning widely. Vira simply rolled her eyes at the comment.

“Oooh….. P-pretty….” Dewey said weakly in response, before finally drifting out of consciousness. The last thing they saw before everything faded to black was Vira slowly making her way towards them.