Isher Notra

What was the deal with them?

Stella waited for the Frog Monoke to carry the Knight and Tarb through the pseudo-lake, along with the Squad's not-waterproof equipment. Lien childishly splashed her paw in the water while the rest dried themselves by shaking their bodies like regular canines. Of course, that meant the Human's clothes were victims of an unwanted yet needed wash again. They needed to be thrown on a garbage disposal rather than cleaned, but what could she do? Sayama was visibly lacking in clothing stores.

The waiting kind of sucked, but it would be fine... If not for the Kappa beside her.

Since Kaku noticed Stella's existence, they became pretty curious about her to an obnoxious degree. At that moment, they carefully used their claws to pinch the girl's cheek as if they were an annoying aunt or something. And holy fuck, they smelled like rotten fish! It took every bit of patience the Human had to not snap at this clearly ancient creature.

"Oh! Your skin is very soft! I'm not feeling any fur nor scales, either." Then they just passed their hand all over Stella's face, pinching her nose, ears and almost poking her eyes with his fingers. "Very smooth, so it can't be an Ogre. Too chubby to be a Yūrei, though."

Stella took a deep breath and slowly pushed their hand away. "I am not a Monoke, sir! I am a Human, believe it or not."

Kaku's eyes opened for the first time. It was only a tiny bit, but the girl could peek at their reddish-brown orbs. "Oh, my. A Human?" They hummed for a few seconds. "Well, I suppose it's been a long time."

Stella's frustration was quickly replaced by curiosity. "You met a Human before?"

The old turtle-like Monoke scratched around the cavity on top of their head. "I did. Though my memory ain't what used to be."

Lien chimed in. "I've heard that happens with old Monoke. And you're, like, super old, right?!" Everyone, including Stella, made chastising glances at the pup after her inconsiderate words.

However, Kaku started laughing his scales off, surprisingly. "That's true! I'd be a goner if not for that grumpy Frog!"

Speaking of him, Padda arrived with the two guards. The Kappa waved at them. "More visitors?! Ain't that a treat?!"

It was clear that this Monoke's age was affecting his mental state. Of course, Stella already knew this was just stuff that happened with people of Kaku's age.

She had never really interacted much with old folk before. She never knew her grandparents and retirement homes were too far from where she lived to visit. That was if she was ever interested in the first place.

Stella was momentarily pulled out of her thoughts by Padda. "Alright, officers! Welcome to my humble abode!"

"OUR humble abode!" Kaku interjected.

The Frog chuckled. "Whatever you say..." Then he pulled a key from his pocket (it was turtle-shaped) and opened the door.

The interior was as humble and rustic as Stella imagined. The lower floor had a living room and a kitchen, with no walls separating the two, and a bathroom installed next to the stairs. The walls were adorned with stuffed fish and... frogs?! What!?

Upon seeing this disturbing image, Stella's mind flashed with questions. Wasn't this illegal? What was the relation between the Monoke and their animal counterparts? Maybe it was the same principle between Humans and apes.

Still horrifying, though.

The rest was cozy enough. A medium-sized green sofa, two smaller couches, a hearth, wooden chairs, and a table. It was enough to make the Human's uneasiness almost fade away.

Padda pointed at the stairs. "We only have two rooms for y'all. Two beds each. The rest can sleep in some bags." Stella hoped it was actual sleeping bags.

The Knight touched the Human's shoulder. "How about you and Lien get yourselves comfortable?"

Stella nodded, then turned to her friend. "Let's go, Lien."

The pup nodded and followed the girl through the stairs. When they were at the last steps, Padda warned. "Stay clear from the one with the stuffed frog on the door! That's ours!"

Great, a Frog stuffing a frog... That was the unsettling imagery she needed for the day...

The anuran Monoke's room was at the end of the hall that connected all enclosures on the second floor. That left the girls to decide between the one on their left or right. The fact that they looked identical on the inside didn't help.

"Any of those smells better to you?" Stella was using the bottom of the barrel of criteria there. Lien immediately entered the room on the left and started using her nose to do a thorough examination.

At first, seeing the pup sniffing around every pillow, mattress, curtain, and rug was cute. However, it turned into an overwhelmingly dull experience. Lien had spent about thirty minutes in a single room, then even longer in the next!

Stella regretted everything, down to her first choices in life.

Before the girl could bang her forehead on the wall over and over to distract her from boredom, Lien came out of the bedroom on her right, very excited. "This is the best room, no doubt!"

Stella made a loud sigh of relief. "Oh yeah? How so?"

The pup extended her paw and showed a centipede she was holding. That took Stella aback, but the Human was way over some stupid fear of the creepy crawlies.

She raised an eyebrow. "A bug?"

"Food!" Lien explained with such eagerness. "It will fill our tummies until dinner!"

Stella silently stared at the pup for about ten seconds. She was not surprised by her friend's antics anymore. "Yep! It's settled!" She went to the opposite room.

The Wolf didn't get the memo. "Stella? You're going to the wrong side."

The Human plopped face first to one of the beds. The softness of it had sent her mind into a state of blissful comfort, and her body melted into the mattress, almost becoming one with it. That was until the sickening, crunchy sound of the centipede being crushed between the pup's teeth. Yuck!

Regardless, this comfort was beyond anything she had previously. Even when she managed to get her hands on a dirty mattress in the dumpster, it was better to sleep on the hard floor after some time. Less chance of diseases.

The girl heard a squeak next to her. Though her face was deeply buried in the bed, she knew it was Lien repeating her same action.

"Going to sleep, already?!" The pup cried.

Stella hummed. "This bed has made me its prisoner. You will have to go home without me."

Suddenly, the girl could feel her friend landing on her bed. Did she really jump from her own? What a stupid question. Of course, she did!

"Come on! That's like, our first sleepover!" Lien's enthusiasm was contagious most of the time.

However, Stella wouldn't move from her spot other than her head to meet her unfocused gaze. "I guess it is, huh? What do we do now? Any ideas?"

Lien scratched her chin. "Well, we usually just keep talking about stuff."

Stella rolled her body to have her back touching the mattress. "Really? Of all people, I thought your sleepovers would at least involve some demolition. Maybe some arson." She chuckled.

The pup crossed and rested her feet on the Human's chest. Stella was about to complain, but- "Our huts are too small for that. We have the playground for that level of play." A little tidbit of Wolf lore made her keep her mouth shut for now.

"Hey, why don't you tell me more about your home?" Stella proposed.

Lien's ears perked up. "Right! Of course!" She clasped her paws together and fidgeted her fingers. "Where to start...?"

The pup pondered for a few seconds. The Human enjoyed seeing her friend's cute expressions when she thought too hard. Her scrunched snout, her tensed jaw. Unfortunately, her eyes were always concealed by her fringe.

The Human wondered how adorable she would be with her gray orbs completing her beauty.

Stella's heart skipped a beat, her cheeks flushed, and she suddenly became self-aware of the Wolf's touch on her. Her energy returned, and she quickly shuffled to a sitting position.

Lien slowly recoiled her legs. "What's wrong?"

The Human quickly dismissed her concern. "N-Nothing! Just... Really excited to know more about Pantsti!" She was not entirely wrong, but...

Of course, it didn't take much to divert Lien's attention. "Okay! I think I know where to start!"

Stella shifted only an inch closer to the pup. She didn't want to feed these feelings further.

Lien started. "Pantsti was a tiny mountain, but we hollowed it out and broke off the tip." She unsheathed one claw and then made a circular motion with it. "Then we made it our home!"

Stella's eyes widened. "You guys managed to make a mountain hollow?" She had just witnessed the over-the-top powers of Grýla and the Knight, yet this seemed ludicrous.

Lien nodded. "Oh yeah! But the one who really made the difference was the elder Wolf! His name is Hōkō, and he only teaches pups about Saniya nowadays. Pups like me!"

While the history lesson was interesting, it was the Saniya part that really captured Stella's attention. The Knight had previously affirmed that she could learn all those cool magic tricks with training.

If that experience with the jam served as a prelude, the girl couldn't wait to see how far she could go.

Wait, what was she doing?

"Then our playground stands at the center of it all. There are slides, holes where we can use as our own arena, and-"

Oh, right. Stella was supposed to learn about Pantsti...

Her sleep wouldn't come anytime soon.