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An old German jokes goes something like this: Vegetarian is Indian for: Too dumb for hunting.

Yuna was in an exuberant mood when she came home from school. As of late she had bundled up with some new students at school and it had helped her to get over that terrible grunge and emo phase she had gone through before. Her parents had been all for it, as their little girl had been all gloomy and depressed during that time. Now she was quite cheerful and embraced her life. Which was much more fitting for a young girl like her.

She came into the den and threw her backpack into the corner humming some new pop song she had heard somewhere. Her mum looked out of the kitchen and smiled at her lovingly.

“Oh, you are home already my little fang.”

She called out and waved at her with a spatula. Yuna smiled back and pulled her headphones off and rustled her feathers on her head. They still had a grey-ish tint to them from the time she had dyed all her feathers black, but their vibrant colors were already again visible underneath it.

“Yeah last class was canceled, someone ate Mrs. Peterson.”

She gave back and pulled off her leather jacket.

“Oh my, poor Mrs. Peterson…”

Her mother replied and looked back into the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be a while till we get a new math-teacher. What’s for lunch?”

The young girl asked and threw her jacket to her backpack and resumed humming her song. Her mum grinned as she turned back to her daughter.

“Your favorite, Tricera-Chops.”

She called out and saw how her daughter’s face slowly frowned.

“But mohom, I told you before… I am vegetarian now… I can’t eat meat.”

Yuna complained loudly and with a whining tone. Her mum rolled her eyes and huffed.

Vegetarianism was her new thing. Since she had bundled up with that new group of friends in which some herbivores played a big role, she had converted to that form of nourishment. Her mum was still happy she had laid off that goth/emo phase, as she had been insufferable in her nihilistic behavior back then. All had been gloom and doom back then. Death and suffering had been her world in that phase, until she had met those new folks at school, whom had pulled her out of her hole and back into the sunlight. Gone were the black leather and velvet, gone were the dyed black feathers and black painted claws, well mostly at least.

But that new phase, vegetarianism, that would be a hard pill to swallow as well. They were Raptors, proud Raptors. Her family could trace their roots back to the first of their kind, an unbroken bloodline, that was rare these days. Her grandfather had been a successful hunter, a killer like their ancestors of old, and her father was not shabby in that regard either.

And she stepped on that heritage with clawed feet. Her mother hope that this phase, like that emo phase, would come and go, just like the last one… it would, for sure… wouldn’t it?

Yuna stood in the hallway, still all fired up and ready to argue, but her mum just pointed the spatula at her.

“You may discuss that with your father, he should be here any minute now.”

Her voice was filled with annoyance and she did not wait for an answer. The young Raptor felt her jaw drop and she gasped for air at the prospect of having to discuss the matter with her dad. To call her da conservative was an understatement of biblical proportions. He was antiquated, prehistoric in his views and ways. For him it was an affront that they lived together with herbivores. For him it was an attack on HIS freedom, that his daughter went to school with herbivores. And don’t even get me started about having herbivores teaching his daughter.

With not a little distress she heard her father’s ever bickering voice outside the door to their den. He was discussing something with one of his colleagues from the sound of it. Carefully she stepped back from the door, so as not getting the door square in the face. She had barely stepped back as the door was kicked open and her dad stood in the doorway still discussing with that allosaur colleague of his.

“... and don’t get me started about thos furry upstarts. Mammals or what those snacks are called. We are the rightful rulers of this world. It always was like that, it will ever be that way.”

His colleague shouted something in his indecipherable accent and her dad waved him goodbye before slamming the door shut. He turned around and inhaled to shout his hello’s as he looked straight in Yuna’s face and almost choked. Laboriously he cleared his throat and smiled at his daughter.

“Oh look, who is already home. My dearest little fang. Come into my arms my little terror puppet.”

He shouted far louder than necessary and opened his arms and Yuna knew better than not to accept his hug. He embraced her heartily and held her tightly against his deep chest.

“Darling, look who’s already here… so we can eat together… some birdy told me we are getting Tricera-Chops!”

He shouted and Yuna stiffened in his arms, as she had no means of escaping the inevitable now. And predictable as ever, her mother popped her head out of the kitchen with a deadly smile.

“I know, I know… and lunch is ready. So why don’t you tell daddy how much you like Tricera-Chops honey.”

She thrilled before disappearing back into the kitchen to get the dishes. Yuna swallowed and her dad released her from his vice-like embrace.

“What did you mess up this time, sweetheart?”

He asked without any distractions, as he knew when his wife was using that tone, something was in the bushes. Yuna fidgeted with her fingers, while her tail swished frantically to and fro and her kill claws clicked a deadly rhythm onto the stone floor.

“Well… umm… I mean…”

She stuttered and her dad raised his brows.

“Spit it out already!”

He demanded and crossed his arms over his chest. Yuna was getting more and more agitated before she could not longer hold it in.

“I can’t eat no meat no more… I am vegetarian now.”

stated the young Raptor rapidly and already winced at the retaliatory rant that was sure to come from her father. And he already began to fill his lungs with air, as his daughter could see the flushing of his cheeks shining through the thinner parts of his feathers. And then the storm broke loose.

“What? What the hell do you mean by, you can’t eat Meat no more? You are a freaking carnivore. You are a Raptor for fuck’s sake!”

He shouted enough to hurt Yuna’s sensible ears, but he had not yet reached the maximum volume of his voice. He threw his hands up and looked at his daughter, who stepped back another two paces.

“Is this another one of your phases? First we had that: I’m gonna be a Pterodactyl, I’m gonna fly phase. Thankfully we got through that without any broken bones, as little Miss Sunshine wanted to jump from the roof, like a birdie… Yeah fuck that. And then, then there was that gothic phase, when I almost had to drag you to the psychiatrist to get your head back into working condition. Your feathers still look like shit. How do you ever want to get a good male like that? Hopefully after the next moulting, they grow back in shiny colors. But luckily we got through that one too, without you throwing yourself off a bridge or something.”

He shouted even louder, gesturing wild with his clawed hands and pacing before her, clicking his kill claws on the hard, stone floor with each stomp of his feet. But before she could do or say anything he drew in another lungful of air.

“And now? Now you come home as a vegetarian! What in all of dinosaurdom has ridden you now? This has to be the work of one of those herbivores. They plant those thoughts in your heads, making you weak. And then, then they gonna rise up and rebel”

He almost shrieked by now and Yuna had to cover her ear holes, not to suffer any loss of hearing from her fathers tirade.

Her mum had retired to the kitchen and waited for the storm to pass, as she always did, when her dad was exploding, because she was not the poster child he wanted her to be.

As he had stopped for the moment Yuna looked at him from where she had retreated to, and he was panting furiously. She knew it was a recipe for disaster to contradict him now, but she needed him to know that it had not been the teachers.

“Dad, the teachers had nothing to do with it…”

She started her attempt at arguing, but it was as far as she came before her father exploded again.

“Then it was those herbivore kids, they let go to school with you nowadays. One should cull them all together. I always said it is a bad Idea to let carnivores study together with those lowlives. I will go to this school and I will teach them…”

While he was talking himself ever further into his rage, Yuna’s eyes had widened. Her dad was threatening her friends. He was openly advocating their demise.

That was the point when something snapped in her.

With a shriek of her own, Yuna stepped forward, her arms outstretched and her kill claws raised. She had flattened the feathers on her head and shrieked her defiance against her dad. This had an effect on him, and he stopped dead in his tracks. As she stepped forth in that typical attack stance of her kin, her father tilted his head. She would have no real chance against him, he was still much bigger, more experienced in all matters fighting, and he already knew that she would not attack him. She was all bark, but no bite.

“You will leave Alex and the others out of this!”

Hiss Yuna, her voice full of anger, but also fear. She herself knew all too well that she would never attack her father and live to tell the tale, but could not back down, now that she had threatened him. Her father grinned a predatory grin, showing off his dagger-like teeth.

“So, his name is Alex then. What is he? Don’t tell me he is a Diplodocus.”

He said, while his voice was dripping with sarcasm and vile, but he turned fully towards her and stretched his arms out just like her, inviting her to attack first.

“Maybe I should visit them and tell them to leave my daughter alone, or else…”

He let the sentence hang in the air, but licked his lips meaningfully.

This broke Yuna’s patience and she pounced on her dad. As he had already anticipated her attack, he could easily dodge it and let her slam against the heavy front door of their abode. She collapsed from the force of the impact, and before she could rear herself up again, she felt the claw of her fathers foot on her flank. She gasped for air and looked up at him in terror. He only grinned his toothy grin and looked down on her.

“You need to learn a lot of things, child. First of all, if you want to best your dad in combat, you need to get up early.”

He said, and his voice was cold as ice. She felt his claw almost piercing her hide as he leaned more on her.

“Secondly, you never… ever contradict your father.”

It was a mere whisper and she felt the piercing pain of his killing claws pushing in between her ribs.

“Third and lastly, you will eat what’s on the table, or you will not eat at all!”

And with that he lifted his foot off her ribcage and straightened up. Yuna stayed on the floor. She was way too angry and too furious to stand up now, at the same time she was so afraid of her dad right now, that she feared he would effectively kill her, if she would contradict him now. And so she stayed down, looking up at him in defiance.

As she did not move, or said anything for the moment, her dad decided it was enough for the moment and went into the kitchen, the Tricera-Chops would get cold, if he took any longer.

Yuna heard him walk away and shortly after she heard the heated debate between her mother and him, as he accused her of being too soft with Yuna, and therefore she would be so rebellious.

She trembled with rage and hatred right now. She wanted to roar her anger and to kill someone… anyone… for her dad’s inconsiderate stance on life. As the argument in the kitchen raged on, but on a much more civilized level than her own discussion, if one could call a shouting match between her and her father a discussion, with him, she slowly got up from the floor.

Her head, arms and shoulder hurt from the crash against the door, and her ego would reel for a long time from that easy defeat. Carefully she felt her flanks for any blood, but her dad had been levelheaded enough not to actually hurt her.

For a moment she considered giving in and going into the kitchen to eat with her folks, as in all earnesty she had to admit that she loved Tricera-Chops. The way her mum made them was more than delicious. But that would be the same as admitting defeat to her dad and she would lose face before her friends, if she would break her promise of not eating any meat anymore.

No, she could not go into the kitchen now and eat those juicy, deliciously tender…

“Hrrrnnnnnrggg…”

She growled and clenched her fists so hard, she could feel her sharp claws pierce the skin on the palm of her hands. She managed not to wince at the pain, but decided not to go to the kitchen but to retire to her room for now. She took her jacket and stomped up the stairs to her room.

When her door slammed shut with a loud bang, her parents briefly stopped shouting at each, only to resume their argument moments later, blaming each other for their daughter’s temperament.

In her room, Yuna sat down on her bed and sighed heavily. She was not pleased with the situation to say the least. She was fuming. She needed to do something, anything to get rid of the energy that had built up inside her, and she needed to eat something, her stomach made itself known. With all the smells of food wafting through their home, her body betrayed her and made her mouth water and her stomach rumble in anticipation.

“I can’t go down there… I simply can’t…”

She told herself again and again, but if she would not get something, anything to eat soon, her resolve would crumble faster than a sandcastle under high tide.

She gnawed her teeth in frustration and stood up again. She went over to her dresser and pulled open the uppermost drawer. Between some of her clothes an old tin can was nestled, her “piggy bank”. Carefully she took off the lid and looked inside. She had saved up a pretty penny, as she wanted to get a new leather jacket at some point, but now some of it would be used to get something edible from one of the street vendors.

She pocketed the bill and looked at her windows. The hell would freeze over before she would go downstairs right now and risk running into her dad again. It was only nine feet and she had strong legs. It wasn’t the first time she had fled from home this way, and it would not be the first time her dad would wait for her to come back home, just to scold her all over again. She was used to it by now, it would not be the last time.

She knew her parents loved her, and she loved them, dearly so, but they just were so conservative, so caught in the old ways, unable to adjust to how the things were changing all around them.

She wanted to be free, free from the shackles of a society that lived in the past and forced her into a mold that just did not fit her. She huffed heavily and took her jacket. Carefully she took everything from her window sill before opening it. One last time she looked back and listened for her parents who seemingly had stopped their argument for the time being in favor of eating. Her stomach grumbled once more and she pressed her hand against it to quiet it down.

“Soon… soon you’ll get something…”

She whispered and ducked out the window.

Right before her room was a small ledge, where she could stand on before the drop to their front yard. Careful not to slip, she took the step to the edge and let herself drop to the ground. With a soft thud she landed and looked around. Her parents had not yet noticed her and so she took off fast and low.

She was made to run and running always felt so good to her. Burning off the pent up energy and anger was a relief. Her claws dug into the soil and her powerful legs propelled her forward fast. The rushing of the wind in her ears and the pounding feeling of her heart in her chest elevated her mood from abysmal to almost bearable, if there wasn’t that gut churning hunger.

When she had run for some blocks she slowed down to a walking pace. She contemplated where she should go, to get something to eat. She wanted to eat something, but she also needed to talk to someone. She needed to get all that out of her mind.

“Maybe I should look if Thomas is in the mall.”

She mumbled and looked down the street where the big shopping center was located. There they had a big food court, where one could get almost anything food related.

Thomas was a good friend of hers, one she had held dear since she had been a tiny little hatchling, and he seemed to always hang out somewhere around the food court. He would listen to her, and he would understand her. He always did.

Her decision made, she took off to the mall.

She ran at a decent speed down the alley. Running felt so good, it took her mind off of things. She could focus on herself, her running, her stamina… her prey…

She didn’t realize it at first, but she focused hard on a Isascursor that was running a little ahead of her, she slowly honed in on the sleek and fast herbivore. Without noticing she had lowered her head, spread her clawed paws and grit her teeth.

When she finally noticed her hunting instincts had almost completely taken over and she was about to pounce on the unsuspecting plant eater in front of her. She was just able to snap out of it before her powerful legs propelled her forward, making her barely miss the jump and landing in a bush next to the sidewalk.

Startled by the sudden impact right next to it, the herbivore took off like a rocket, cursing her to all hell and back, while Yuna was half sitting and half hanging in the bush, panting hard, trying to get her senses straight again.

It had happened before.

Carnivores, especially hunters like her kin, kept falling back in the old ways of hunting whatever game they could. Whenever they were in a situation that fed their senses with whatever was driving their hunting instincts, they fell into hunting mode and focused on the prey in front of them. There had been “accidents” already, nasty stuff.

Up until now she had always been able to snap out of it before anything had happened, but this time it had been too close for comfort. Just a smith longer and she had attacked that poor fellow. It had to be the hunger that was plaguing her that had made her focus on the prey so much more, she reasoned.

She had to get something to eat. Something raw… bloody…

“NO! No, no, no, no…”

She scolded herself and tried to get out of the bush and regain at least some of her dignity. When she stood on the pavement again, her claws clicked on the hard ground and she nervously checked her clothes if anything had been ripped. She did not want to get in any more trouble as necessary with her mum.

Luckily for her, everything was still alright, apart from her ego, which had taken a sizable blow. She huffed heavily and looked down the street. It was of no use, she had to eat something, and she needed it soon.

She resumed her way towards the mall albeit slower this time, wary not to fall back into hunting-mode.

When she got to the mall, it was already well past lunchtime for her and her stomach was churning and trying to digest itself. Her mood was very low, not to say desperate.

Quickly she made her way to the food court, trying hard not to sniff the scent laden air. At this time many other dinosaurs were out and about, shopping for their families and their own needs. Many of them would nicely fall into the prey category for her and her kin, and in her hungry… no starved condition every breath she took pushed her closer towards her instincts screaming at her to just lash out and grab one of them for dinner. At some point she passed by a toy store from which a couple of young kids came out loaded up with toy boxes. Yuna just barely stopped herself from snapping at one of the herbivores. Hectically she clasped her hands around her snouted and bolted from them, so as not to lose her composure even more.

When she rounded the last corner and stood before the food court, the overwhelming scent of food almost floored her. She began to tremble as her senses were unable to handle all the smells.

As a heavy hand landed on her narrow shoulder she almost jumped.

“Hey beautiful, what brings you here at this time?”

Thomas' characteristic nasal voice sounded next to her ear. She hadn’t seen or heard him approach so enamored had she been with all the sensory overload. Her head spun round and she looked at him and for a split second she saw her mother’s Tricera-Chops standing in front of her saying: “Eat me…”

She shrank back, gasping for air and blinked. When she opened her eyes again she saw Thomas stand before her with a distraught look on his face.

“Hey Yuna, calm down, what’s wrong girl?”

He asked but the young Raptor tried to say something, but she was unable to form proper words at the moment.

As she couldn't, her stomach did the talking for her and rumbled like a T-Rex on the prowl. Hearing that, Thomas chuckled and smiled, laying his arm around her shoulder and pulled her with him.

“Ok, that is something that can be helped.”

He said and steered her towards one of the food stalls. He knew about her newest kink and brought her to a food stall selling fried tofu with vegetables. It was surely not his favorite, but at least she would eat it and her body would be able to make something out of it. When he sat her down on one of the stools he looked at the herbivore behind the counter.

“Don’t ask. Just give her a bowl.”

Thomas ordered and handed over a bill. The Stegosaur behind the counter nodded softly and got to work. It didn’t take long at all till he had credenced a bowl with some broath, steamed vegetables and a big chunk of spiced and fried tofu. It was placed at the counter together with some chopsticks and a spoon. Thomas took the bowl carefully and carried it over to his trembling friend. As he sat it down before her and gave her the chopsticks it took a moment for her to realize what had happened. Her brain still suffered from severe sensory overload and her mind worked hard to not give in to the urge to slam her fangs into some… anyone who passed her.

She looked down at the bowl and slowly she took some of the vegetables bringing it up to her mouth. When she put it into her maw and closed her jaws around it her features softened and she closed her eyes. Carefully she chewed on it and in the end swallowed the bite. After her first hesitant taste she dug into it with vigor, devouring the whole bowl quickly.

It tasted nice and spicy, with enough hotness to let her tongue tingle, but not too hot as to hurt or burn out her taste buds. When she had stuffed herself with the bigger chunks of greenery and the tofu, she grabbed the spoon and began to shovel the broath into her maw, drinking it greedily.

All the while she made smacking, munching and gulping sounds, underlined with hums and little squeaks of happy indulgence.

Thomas sat besides her, watching her chow down the meal and chuckled all the way. Seldomly had he seen a carnivore so ravenous like her.

Sure he knew that carnivores such as himself and Yuna were much more susceptible for hunger attacks, which was why it was heavily encouraged for every and all carnivores to never leave their homes in a hungry state.

When Yuna lifted the bowl to her snout to drink the last of the broath directly from it he had to laugh. It was just too cute an image watching her enjoying her meal.

With a soft clank she set down the bowl again and exhaled with an audible sigh.

“Aaah… I needed that so much right now…”

She said softly, licking her lips lavishly. Thomas nodded knowingly, folding his hand he leaned forwards, propping himself up on the table and looked at her sternly.

“So girl, tell me, why are you so starved when it is just past lunchtime? Shouldn’t your mum made something to eat for said lunch?”

He asked in a soft, yet serious tone. Yuna pressed her lips together and looked at him completely distraught. She tried a few times to form a sentence that told her problem without sounding too much like a total brick, but failed. In the end she let her shoulders slump and sighed.

“Mum made Tricera-Chops for lunch… because she knows dad and I love them so much, but I can’t eat them anymore… and you know how conservative my folks are…”

She began and Thomas nodded. He knew all too well how conservative some folks, especially carnivores, could be. Since they had all the benefits when it came to the old ways.

“Well Yuna, not to be a dick at all but, I can somewhat understand your parents. You see, we carnivores can live without meat for a time, an extended period of time even, when we get the right foodstuffs, but we are not meant for that. Our whole body is meant to digest meat, blood and bones… preferably raw.”

He said the well known facts and Yuna could not contradict him. She knew that eventually she would need to eat at least “some” meat, but not now. She just had befriended their new classmates and just found them to be really nice guys, understanding and gentle. She wanted to take a step towards them and at least stop eating their kin, even if it was just for a while. She wanted to show them that she respected their ways.

“But… but I can’t just eat them… you know… how can I befriend herbivores when, behind their back, I eat their grandparents.”

She replied and looked down into the now empty bowl, imagining it being full of fresh meat. Immediately her mouth began to water again. Disgusted, she shoved the bowl away from herself. Meanwhile Thomas nodded and thought about what she had said. He could understand her predicament, but she could not shed her nature like a second skin. She was and always would be a carnivore. Nature’s most perfect killing machine. He scooted closer to her and laid his big arm around her shoulders, pulling her in a bit.

“Have you spoken with them about the whole thing?”

He asked in a soft tone, rubbing her shoulder gently. Yuna shook her head.

“No, I did not tell them. I thought it would be a thing they would appreciate, so I just decided for myself to not eat meat anymore.”

She said meagly. Thomas shook his head slowly.

“Oh my lovely young girl, you should talk to them. Their answer might be a total surprise for you.”

He said softly and pulled her in a bit more. Yuna looked up to his face and seemed to be a bit disturbed.

“What… what do you mean by that?”

She asked and blinked.

“It means that many herbivores totally respect carnivores eating meat. Since it is our nature and we can’t deny our nature, many of the herbivores are at least OK with you eating meat. They will of course be all for you not eating their meat in particular, but since it is your nature and you are not to blame for that, they will accept it as the way things are. Naturally they welcome you wanting to eat “less” meat, as it is a sign of good will, but they would never expect from you to not eat meat at all.”

Her friend explained and looked over to the chef standing behind the counter.

“Isn’t it so Kokku Musumi?”

The Stegosaur behind the counter nodded and smiled.

“Sure, most of us don’t hate on the carnivores, just because they eat our kin. The hate comes from you people being so smug about it. Your Japanese is still garbage by the way.”

He said, his asian accent still very thick in his speech. Thomas laughed out loudly, shaking Yuna up a bit in the process. She still looked at him in confusion.

“I don’t understand. How can they be ok with me eating them by proxy? I mean, for all I know I could have eaten their relatives… I would be royally pissed by that.”

She stated and tried to free herself from his embrace. Slowly getting himself down again he let her go and sniffed softly.

“Well… I don’t know how to put it, but I would think you should talk to them about it. Ask them how they stand towards you being the predator that you are, that you favorite food normally would be Tricera-Chops and that you feel terribly guilty for that.”

He began and pulled out his wallet.

“See how they react and go from there. I bet you…”

He looked into the wallet and checked its contents.

“... five dollars, that they will call you crazy for trying to go vegetarian. But they will support you in doing so, since they are crazy like that.”

He concluded with a vicious smile. Yuna looked at him and raised her eyebrows. Five dollars was a lot for her, and if he was willing to bet that much on it, he would be pretty sure of himself. Sure he was way older than her, and had tons of life-experience ahead of her. For sure he had spoken with some herbivore or another in the past.

A careful smile painted itself onto her thin lips, one that was mirrored by his much more frayed lips. Slowly she nodded.

“I shall do that, talk to my friend and find out what they think and then I should apologize to my mum…”

She agreed and Thomas assuredly nodded at her decision.

“Yes, you should. Letting those Tricera-Chops go to waste is a sacrilege after all.”

The smile on Yuna’s face faltered slightly.

“Yeah it is a shame… I really love those.”

She admitted, letting her head hang low and curling her tail around the stool’s leg. Her kill-claws clicked on the metal off the table’s legs and she folded her hands on said table, huffing as if she had lost all hope.

Thomas reached out with his much larger hand and laid it on hers. His long, curved claws closed around her hands and he looked at her reassuringly.

“Head’s up Yuna, don’t give up. Go to your friends, talk to ‘em. Take heart.”

He said and squeezed her hands gently. She nodded and lifted her chin up to look into his eyes.

“Thank you…”

She whispered and saw her friend smile back at her.

“Not for that… for the tofu on the other hand…”

He mused and Yuna’s jaw dropped.

“Awww you ruined it… you could have been a poet.”

She said and kicked him under the table, while he burst into laughter, but she couldn’t be angry at him, at least not for real. He always had an open ear for her, always took time to hear her out and gave her honest advice, even if that advice was not what she wanted to hear. And this time again he managed to make her laugh.

She smiled a goofy smile over to him as he wiped a tear out of his eye and kept chuckling.

“You should have seen your face right there…”

He added and earned himself another kick for his efforts, but Yuna joined him in his chuckle before slowly pulling her hands back. She uncurled her tail from the stool and slipped off it.

“You are right, as you always are…”

She began and Thomas, always the humble advisor, nodded sagely.

“... I will go now and talk to them, and if they, as you say, will tell me that they are ok with me eating meat, I will follow my nature and will continue to eat meat, albeit on a reduced level.”

She concluded and saw her friend stand up from the table as well. He opened his arms for her and the young Raptor happily stepped into the embrace. As he slung his mighty arms around her slender body and squeezed her against his own bigger frame, he whispered:

“I am proud of ya, little fang.”

And he could feel her sigh of relief. She enjoyed the intimacy of the gesture and his genuine affection for her. She had to retrain herself from nibbling at him as a show of great affection from her side.

He released her from the hug and looked down at her with a fatherly smile.

“Now go and find your way, girl.”

He said and Yuna nodded. Clicking her claws on the hard floor and swishing her tail she turned around and took off.

“See ya around…”

Thomas called out after her and waved her goodbye. She flicked her tail in response as she left the food court fast in the direction of the exit.

She went fast, almost running, as she walked through the shopping center. She had her mind fixed on the prospect of talking to her friend about her endeavor and her perils, but the further she got, the slower her pace became, until she stopped just a few steps away from the exit.

She had been totally concentrated on the idea of talking to her friends and for the first few seconds she had been absolutely sure of herself and the concept, but soon after that her insecure mind began to sow doubts into her thoughts. By the midway point she was heavily doubting if it was a good idea to speak with her friends. What if they would question her resolve? What if they would reject her?

Finally as she approached the big entry doors of the mall she questioned her own resolve if she ever wanted to go vegetarian. And so she stopped right there in the middle of the entryway to the mall and shivered, unsure of herself and everything she believed just minutes ago. She looked around, searching for any and all reassurance and contemplated to turn back and go back to Thomas.

“No… no I can’t go back. That would be ridiculous. I must do this on my own.”

She told herself and clenched her fists. She clicked her claws on the flooring and worked her jaw slightly. It helped her getting her thoughts straightened out again.

“Miss? Miss? Excuse me miss… You are blocking the traffic…”

Sounded out an old voice behind her and Yuna jolted. She looked over her shoulder and saw an old Dinosaur looking at her. The old Lady was using some kind of contraption to be able to still walk on her four legs and was unable to dodge her. The young Raptor gasped and scrambled to the side, almost toppling over an advertisement for some shop. She was barely able to keep herself and the sign standing.

The old Dino mumbled something indecipherable and pushed herself past Yuna and rolled towards the big automatic door.

“S… Sorry…”

Said Yuna as the big Dino shuffled past her and she looked after the old lady. She got no further reaction. Somewhat saddened, she waited until the passage was free again and then followed the old Dino outside.

Once outside she looked up into the sky and took a deep sniff. The air outside was fresh, but still filled with the scents of hundreds of different citizens.

“So… what to do? Where to go?”

She asked herself and slowly walked across the parking space towards the city center. It did not yet matter where exactly she would want to go, since both destinations would be more towards the city center. On the one hand her home, to apologize to her parents for being so indecent, on the other hand the playground, where her friends usually met up to hang out, to talk to them about her decision to go vegetarian. She would need to decide at one point, where she would take a turn or continue further.

“Yuna? Hey Yuna!”

Someone called out to her and she was once more torn from her thoughts. She looked around to see where the voice had come from. Across the parking lot a schoolmate of hers waved at her. Her eyes widened and she waved back.

“Jaymie, hey…”

She called out for him and ran towards him. He was one of the Allosaurs she was pretty close with. They had dated a little bit some time ago but broke up when she went full goth and emo. Since she had shed the goth and emo theme again they had gotten a bit closer again, but they both knew it would never be the same again.

He looked her up and down when she got to him and smiled.

“Oh man, those dyed feathers will stick to you for some time as it seems.”

He said and Yuna rolled her eyes hard.

“Yeah I love you too you big dufus!”

She said and snapped her teeth at him. He only waved her off.

“Oh come on. You deserve a bit of a burn and you know that.”

He replied and chuckled, dodging another nip from her, as she tried to look annoyed by his antics. Actually she had always loved his ways to tease her.

“Yeah I know. I am still sorry for having let you hanging back then. I was so dumb.”

She admitted and stepped into the hug he offered in return. Jaymie embraced her and hugged her tightly, nuzzling his snout into the long feathers on her head.

“I know, and I forgive you. I should have fought harder to keep you back then… but well water under the bridge.”

He mumbled into her feathers softly nibbling at their shafts making her giggle.

“Mmmhmm… I’m happy to see you here… I might need a bit of backup…”

She whispered into his chest and snuggled a bit closer.

“Backup?”

He asked softly and lifted his head back up to look at her proper. Yuna nodded softly.

“I messed up big time…”

She mumbled and this time Jaymie nodded.

“I know. You mum called my mum… and she sent me out to find you.”

He said softly. Yuna winced and softly pushed away from Jaymie to look up at him.

“She did what?”

She asked, disbelief in her eyes. Jaymie smiled softly but nodded anyway.

“You heard me right, she called my mum and she sent me out to find you. She seems to be very concerned.”

He explained and pointed to a bench nearby.

“Wanna tell me what is wrong this time?”

He added and Yuna just stood there and tried to grasp the dimension this all took up by now. She felt how she slowly got hot and how her heartbeat accelerated fast.

“Oh man… I hope she has not told you mum everything… and I hope she has not called any others…”

Yuna said under her breath and began clicking her claws on the pavement again. Her friend shook his head and sat down patting the bench next to him.

“Come here little fang, sit down, relax and tell little ol’ me what’s wrong.”

He said in a soft tone as his friend shuffled closer and let herself slump on the bench next to him. She leaned heavy on him and chewed on her lip.

“I don’ know how much my mum told yours… so…”

She began and crept around the hot pudding fidgeting with her fingers. Jaymie smiled softly and laid a heavy hand on her small hands.

“Let us assume I do not know anything. Just tell me from the beginning.”

He said softly and Yuna huffed.

“Well you know, I am pretty good with the new guys in class, as they don’t know what shit I have pulled off before their arrival.”

She began and he nodded in acknowledgement.

“Well, they are almost all herbivores…”

She continued and looked up from her hands and into his face. The Allosaur smiled and nodded.

“I know them, they are good folks.”

He agreed and motioned her to continue.

“Well, I feel ashamed to try to be their friend while behind their back eating their kin. You know, in a way I am betraying this friendship…”

Jaymie still nodded, he could understand her position only too well, as he himself was a carnivore, but other than her, he was not ashamed of being one.

“... well … I thought I would try to be like them… try to be a herbivore myself.”

She said and looked back done on her hands. Jaymie took a deep breath, but before he could say anything she spoke again.

“Yeah I know, carnivores are not made to live on greens alone. We can not sustain a body like ours on veggies alone. We need meat, blood, bone… death…”

She said in a sad tone and clenched her fists tightly, her lips were so hard pressed together, that even the scales began to turn white. Jaymie laid her arm around her shoulder and pulled her in, kissing her on the head.

“I respect your attempt, but I think you look at it the wrong way.”

She looked back up to him questioningly.

“Well, my lovely girl, it is not that they would not eat us in turn.”

Now she looked really confused and Jaymie smiled widely.

“Well you know… when we die, our bodies decompose and act as fertilizer for the plants they eat… so in a way they eat us too.”

He said in an earnest tone lifting a finger like a teacher, which earned him a quick nip from Yuna. He had to chuckle and his infectious laugh made her chuckle as well.

“Don’t give me this circle of life shit… you know this is different…”

She said, but she had to admit, he was not really wrong, even though nowadays things were a bit different as they were in the olden days…

“So you say I have eaten my great grand nanny Ursula by eating those Tricera-Chops? Kinda cross to be honest…”

She added and looked at him all crossed out and her friend was equally shocked by that revelation.

“Oh my god, you are right… I might have eaten my uncle Ernie… no wonder I had to fart so bad that day.”

He added in almost as serious a tone as her.

In the end they were able to hold it in perhaps five seconds before bursting into loud laughter. It was a nice feeling, relieving, freeing and Yuna sighed out loud as she caught herself again.

“But nevertheless, when I want to be their friend, I can’t just continue to eat their kin willy nilly, like nothing ever happened. I have to make amends. That much I owe them for bundling up with a carnivore.”

She said with no a little determination and Jaymie could not really contradict her in that.

“Well, what do you need backup for then?”

He asked genuinely interested. Yuna shuffled on the bench uncomfortable and her claws clicked against one another. It was embarrassing for her to tell him, as she had always kept her tough girl facade. Not that he had seen through that at first glance, but seeing her squirm had always amused him to a degree.

“Come on girl, spill it… or do I need to nibble it out of you?”

He said and gave her a soft nibble at some of her sensitive feathers on her head. The young Raptor pulled in her head and squeaked in surprise, before retaliating with a quick nip at his chest. But again she had to admit, that she loved these antics of him.

“Ohhh get off…”

She squawked and pushed him away softly, not really meaning it.

“I need to talk to my friends… need to explain them… my predicament… and…”

She huffed, trying to keep her composure.

“... and I am… I am afraid they're gonna resent me for not being able to go full vegetarian…”

She added and looked up into his eyes pleadingly. He smiled back at her and nodded.

“Ok, I’ll gonna be your backup, but only under one condition.”

He said and looked her in the eye. Yuna raised her brows in concern.

“And that would be?”

She asked softly, not sure if she wanted to know.

“You give me a kiss… a real one, like you really mean it… like in the old times…”

He said with a predatory grin and Yuna’s expression softened. Sure she would kiss him. Why not? Yeah, why the hell not? She reached up to his face and caressed his cheek softly, guiding it down to herself, pursing her lips.

“Come ‘ere you silly lizard.”

She whispered and pressed her lips against his, kissing him sincerely.

The Sensation of kissing him brought back memories. They were crashing down on Yuna with a crushing force, bringing tears to her eyes. Tears of sadness, tears of sorrow… but also tears of joy. Slowly she slung her arms around his neck, holding him to her, not letting him back away, as she slowly deepened the kiss.

The pain of the many joyful memories she shared with him, knowing she would never ever have the same again, anchored her in the then and there. She wouldn’t want it any other way. The pain was needed, it showed her how much she missed being with him, feeling him on her body, within her body.

The tears flowed from her eyes, as she still kissed him with all her love and did not let go of him. Their tongues met between them and it took a real effort not to devour him right where they were, but he wouldn’t let her anyway, or would he?

She moaned into their kiss and pulled herself onto his lap, pushing herself up against him. His arms found their way around her torso, holding her tightly against his own chest as he likewise enjoyed the kiss and the intimacy they shared.

She wanted so badly to go further at that point, but the pain was almost overwhelming at that point and so she pulled back, breaking the kiss. Her breath shuddered as she sucked in a huge breath and huffed.

Jaymie looked at her with a sad smile and then carefully wiped the tears from her cheeks. He felt similar to her, he just did not show it so openly. The kiss had hurt, and once more he cursed himself for not having tried harder to keep her back then, but it was of no use to hang on to the past right now. He tenderly stroked over her cheek and neck and leaned his head against hers softly.

Yuna leaned into his caresses and coed softly. She did not know if she would be able to speak right now. Her feelings were so conflicting at the moment. She wanted him back so badly, she wanted to just take him and drag him somewhere and let the world go on without them for a while, but she knew, this was not hers to decide. He had been the one who had broken up with her back then because he was not able to handle her emotional turmoil back then. He had fought valiantly, that much she had to admit, and she had not given a single F about it, that much she had to admit just as well. She was ashamed of her former self for being so selfish.

It hurt having to admit it after all, the shame was burning in her chest and on her cheeks. Carefully she looked up to him again and tried to form sentences in her head that did not sound so selfish this time.

She took heart and addressed him.

“Hmm… fff… will… will you come with me?”

She said weakly. Her friend leaned back a bit and smiled softly.

“Yes I will be your backup, as I promised. You more than earned it, sweetheart.”

He said in an equally soft tone. Yuna sighed softly and hugged him once more and snuggled up to his chest once more. Unwillingly she curled her tail around his leg.

…

They sat there for some more before finally she let go of him and scooted back off his lap, feeling somewhat sheepish for her own insecuredness. When they finally took off to find her friends and talk to them, she did not move from his side and ever so often curled her tail around his in an attempt to strengthen their connection once more.

Concept and Idea by

El Poyo Diabolo

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