NAP FORTRESS Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? It’s agonizing, isn’t it? To be surrounded by people and still feel utterly alone. Cast out, forgotten, and unloved by anyone. You walk through the crowd for years and years and never once bump into someone that likes you. And once you realize that people don’t like you for who you are, you start frantically trying on masks. Desperately seeking that sense of belonging by covering up who you really are. But without the freedom of shameless self-expression, the feeling is short-lived and hollow. Do those new friends belong to you, or do they belong to the mask that you wear? When you do finally bump into the ones that like you for who you are - the ones that truly belong to you - you won’t ever want to let them go. Even when it’s time for you to leave them behind. ====================================== Sawyer drive is a road in Deeptail that runs through the less fortunate side of town. The houses are older, smaller, and much closer to the downtown area, where the roads are not well-maintained. But, in spite of the potholes and the poor conditions, many kids grow up on this street never really knowing how poor they are. June Zion is one of those kids. She doesn’t care much for wealth and glamor - that much is obvious, based on her strange, worn-out attire. But even after learning about her unfortunate financial status, June still feels like the richest girl in Deeptail. Dirty and tattered as they may be, her black beret and oversized coat are the raiments of a ruler - the wild and mischievous queen of thieves. Of course, a queen needs a kingdom. And somehow, June has managed to build the greatest castle in the neighborhood. At the very end of Sawyer drive, near the outskirts of Deeptail, one can find June’s humble little house. It’s not very big nor very fancy, but the young feline is tough and resourceful. She has found a way to turn her parents’ house into a veritable keep of her own. Past the front door, and a few steps down the hall, the door to June’s Domain can be found, covered in signs and silly little drawings. And beyond that door, the house opens up into a vast expanse of stuffing and fabric. Pillars made up of ladders and bedposts, walls constructed of pillow-brick. Each cushion has been carefully laid to ensure that nothing comes down. Collapsible corridors criss-cross the fortress, just big enough for a cub to crawl through. The ceiling is a network of sheets and blankets secured to hooks in the walls of the house. This is the Fortress of Zion, the biggest pillow fort in Deeptail. “Home, sweet home!!!” howls David. He smacks one of the dozens of glass bottles that hang from the ceiling. “Back in the ol’ fortress once again. June, fetch me the dry erase board STAT.” June swats at his ear as she enters behind him. “Get it yourself!” The kids step into the glow of the Christmas lights one by one. The grand entrance is lined with them, their light dancing across the glass bottles overhead. But bottles aren’t the only thing dangling from the ceiling; there are also spoons, light bulbs, and chains of bottle caps threaded together. To anyone else, these things are nothing more than junk, but June is a rather eccentric decorator; she sees value in things where others do not. “Where do you keep the white board, anyway?” asks David. “I put it in the vault,” answers Hazel, from behind him. “Unlike you guys, I actually put stuff where it belongs.” “Mmm, I’ll go get it.” June drops down on all fours and slides into a collapsible tunnel set in a nearby pillow-wall. “Make sure the table’s ready!” David’s eyes linger on the cat’s tail end as she disappears deeper into the fort. Four collapsible tunnels branch out from the foyer; all of them lead to different places. Crawling through the second from the right takes the kids directly to the TV Court. This massive chamber is perfect for late night gaming sessions, movie nights, or both. With two separate televisions hooked up in the fort, the possibilities are truly endless. But, a TV court implies comfort, and in that regard, June has spared no expense. Aside from her towering cat tree, there is also an old sofa, a hammock, and an enormous dog bed. In terms of furniture, they aren’t fancy or pretty, but they’re comfy enough for four weary cubs to get some well-deserved rest at the end of the day. But there is no time for rest now. Today, the TV Court becomes a war room. ====================================== Markers, pencils, rulers, paper - all the essential supplies are tossed onto a circular coffee table. June brings the whiteboard out of a nearby chamber and hoists it onto an easel where everyone can see it. Then, David walks up to the board and starts to frantically sketch out a map. “Alright, alright. Settle down, kids, I’ma teach you about Ripperquest.” He clears his throat as he continues to draw. Hazel rolls her eyes and throws a pillow at him. “Get on with it, dude. You’ve got the floor.” “Can you hold on a second? Please, save your pillows until AFTER the presentation.” He squishes his face against the whiteboard as he perfects a few last-minute details. “Okay, now it’s done. Let’s get started.” He caps the marker and turns to face his audience. “Now, here’s the deal: the goal of Ripperquest is to get that bastard, Ripper, and KILL HIM.” David points to the very top of the crudely-drawn castle, where the aforementioned dragon is supposedly located. “HOWEVER! There are three lands we must conquer before we can challenge the lizard himself.” June stares diligently at the board - it’s unusual to see her this focused on…well, anything. Hazel and Sheriff are a lot less attentive; they’ve both played Ripperquest before. “The first area: The Goblin Woods. It’s…it’s exactly what it sounds like: a huge forest…PACKED with goblins. Now, the little bastards have forts set up all around the forest, and they like to set traps where they know we’ll step on them.” “Wait, are the goblins, like, animatronics?” inquires Hazel. “I never understood that. Are they actors, or…?” “Are we allowed to kill and eat them?” June grins mischievously and licks her chops. “We’ll come back to that. Now!” David points to the thick orange and yellow scribble that bisects the map. “The second area: The River of Lava. This one is also…pretty self-explanatory. We gotta cross it to get to the third area. Luckily, it’s not very wide, and there should be rocks sticking out of the lava that we can jump across. Pretty standard lava-related shenanigans.” Hazel nods. “Like the floor is lava.” “Yes, exactly like that.” “Shit, I’m no good at that game…” sighs Sheriff. “It’s nothing crazy; you’ll be fine. Now, the third area: Ripper’s Keep. This…ENORMOUS fortress on the other side of the river.” The dog circles the keep aggressively with a red marker. “Absolutely crawling with monsters, and it’s suuuuper easy to get lost. In order to get into the throne room, we have to find the BOSS KEY, which is hidden somewhere in the keep. Once we do, we unlock the throne room door and then beat the shit out of Ripper.” “Jeez, David,” sighs Hazel. “Why do you want Ripper dead so badly?” “Because he’s a bastard and I hate his guts,” snarls David. “I hate how he laughs at me when I lose Ripper Roulette for the fifteenth time in a row. I hate seeing his stupid face everywhere I go.” The dog throws his paws up in exasperation. “I mean, I mean…you just can’t escape him. He’s on the stage, he’s on the TV, he’s on the arcade games, he’s on the prizes! The-the freaking urinals, in the boy’s bathroom? They’re all designed to look like Ripper. They’re just Ripper with his mouth open.” “You made that last one up,” retorts Hazel. “Nope, that one’s real,” chuckles Sheriff. “S’why I don’t piss at Pizza Lair no more.” Hazel wrinkles her nose, disgusted. “Eeeeeewwwwww!” “Hey!” barks David. “I’m not done.” Sheriff rolls his eyes. “What else needs explainin’?” “A few things, actually. The first thing is this:” David smacks the board with his paw. “There's a chance that this map is as good as garbage. It’s been four years since they shut this thing down - they might have changed some things, if not everything.” Hazel nods. “That’s…a good point.” “Number two: We only get to play ONCE per day. If every player is knocked out, then the Pizza Lair staff come find us and kick us out of the game. And then we have to wait a whole day, AND pay another thirty bucks each.” The kids all look at eachother in a moment of silent acknowledgement. “A hundred and twenty dollars per attempt,” observes Hazel. Suddenly her big, cute eyes are grim and serious. “We have to do this on the first try.” “Which is why I’ve brought you all here today,” continues David. “This challenge is going to test our limits. If we wanna win that million tickets - if we wanna be the new gods of Deeptail - we have to be ready for anything.” Sheriff cracks open a bottle of root beer and takes a long, thoughtful sip. “Then let’s find out how we’re gonna skin this dragon. What’s the plan?” David walks back to the round table and takes a seat on a cushion. “The plan starts with our team composition. There are FOUR classes: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Ranger.” David produces four pieces of paper, each outlining the specifications of each class. They feature long descriptions, elaborate details, and wonderfully-drawn renditions of every class. “Courtesy of Hazel Garcia, by the way,” David adds. “Pretty sick, huh?” “Shut up!” squeaks Hazel, looking away awkwardly. “It looks bad.” The dog rolls his eyes and picks out the ranger class sheet, sliding it over to the Sheriff’s side of the table. “Now Sheriff, as always, you’re gonna be our ranger,” “What does the ranger do?” asks June, her tail flickering curiously. “Shoots stuff,” answers the Sheriff. “Real simple.” David rolls his eyes at the otter. “You say that like it’s easy.” “It is for me,” chuckles Sheriff. He tilts his bottle of root beer back, pouring the delicious soda directly into his open maw. David leans over to June and whispers in her ear. “He doesn’t even know the whole point of his class. He gets aaaaall these buffs from hitting his shots - buffs that STACK - and he doesn’t care. He just shoots at anything he sees.” June shrugs her shoulders. “I mean, as long as it works…” “Which is why I’m not gonna say anything.” The dog draws away from her and clears his throat again. “The Mage!” David flashes Hazel a subtle grin. “She gains power by absorbing mana crystals hidden all over the dungeon. The more she picks up, the more powerful she becomes. In the late-game, she can clear whole rooms with just one spell.” Hazel props her head up on her elbows and bats her eyelashes at him. “That’s me!” “That’s right. Just like last time.” The dog flashes her a smug grin. “And are you gonna pass out just like last time? Are you gonna fly into a rage and blow all your mana casting Radolgar’s Ruin on a skeletal archer?” He taps at the subsection on the class sheet that specifies the unforgiving limits of mana usage. The rabbit scowls at David and throws a pillow at him. “Fuck you. Bad dog.” “Don’t bad dog me, rabbit. Learn from your mistakes. If you practice a little bit of patience, you could easily carry us through the entire game.” The rabbit huffs and folds her arms, pouting like a little brat as she turns away from him. “Now, the Rogue,” continues David, “is our most versatile class. She gains utility through skilled dungeoneering. And no one is more well-equipped to do that; she’s got traps, potions, poisons, hookshots, throwing knives, lamp oil, rope, bombs… honestly, the list goes on and on and on and on. It’s a class for only the most cunning and resourceful players.” He slides the class sheet towards June’s section of the table. “That’d be you, Junie-Z.” The cat grins from ear to pointed ear and snatches her class sheet off the table. “Oh man, I get to use a freaking hookshot?? Like the one in Zelda?” “Yes, exactly like that.” June kicks her legs excitedly under the table. “That leaves us with one more class: ME. The Warrior. The guy with the sword. And the badass cape.” He points to said cape on the class sheet, which is flowing from the shoulders of Hazel’s admittedly badass interpretation of the warrior. Hazel raises an eyebrow. “Hang on. Did you make me the mage just because I’m a girl?” She glares at David and throws another pillow at him. “I could be a warrior too, you know!” “I’m sure you could!” David agrees, reaching over to place the class sheet within her grasp. “However…I doubt you’d wanna deal with THIS.” He points to the bottom of the page, where there is a single sentence written in huge letters: NO RANGED WEAPONS!!! The rabbit wrinkles her nose and pushes the class sheet away. “I changed my mind. You can have it.” “Ahuh, that’s what I thought.” David clears his throat again as he sets the sheet aside. “Anyway. In spite of that one, hideous weakness, I’ll have all the best melee weapons and armor in the game. So, I’ll be your tank for tomorrow. Are there any more questions?” The kids all look at eachother and shake their heads. “Fantastic,” growls David. He grins from ear to ear and leans over the table. “Then let’s start getting into…specifics.” ====================================== “And that’s why Shrek 2 is an artistic masterpiece,” concludes David. “Any questions?” “We’re not watching Shrek 2,” answers Hazel. Night has fallen, and the cubs have long since finished planning for Ripperquest. Now the time has come for the essential late night movie and popcorn binge. Of course, this is an equally serious event, and is usually preceded by heated bickering. David growls at the rabbit like he’s about to try and eat her. “Why the hell not?” “Because I’ve already seen Shrek 2. Like…recently.” “So?” The young dog throws his paws in the air. “You could always watch it again.” “Nope! We should watch Sinbad. I’ve never seen it before and Trish said that it’s good.” The boy rolls his eyes. “I’m not taking movie advice from a rodent that drinks STRAWBERRY MILK.” “I…what? Those two things have no correlation! That doesn’t even make any sense!” “Okay, you know what? There’s…there’s an easier way to settle this.” He turns to the towering cat tree, where June is perched upon the highest tier. “June! Shrek 2 or Sinbad? Pick one.” June tosses a DVD case from the top of her tree, and it lands on the coffee table with a thud. “Shark Tale,” answers June, poking her head over the edge of her throne. Was she keeping that in her coat, or in the cat tree? Which answer is more weird? Hazel growls and slams a paw on the table. “That movie SUUUUCKS!” “It does NOT!” hisses the young feline. She hurls a pillow at the rebellious rabbit. “Start the movie, morsel!!!” The rabbit scoffs and crosses her arms as the pillow bounces off her enormous forehead. “What is it that you like about this stupid movie?” The cat’s tail flickers as she peers down at her subjects. “Fishies.” David chuckles and rolls his eyes. Then he hears pillows shifting behind him; it’s Sheriff, back from the kitchen with four bowls of hot popcorn. “Sheriff.” The young dog points a claw at him. “Shrek 2 or Sinbad?” “Or SHARK TAAAAALE???” snarls June. Sheriff sets the popcorn on the table and scratches idly at his ears. “Ain’t Shark Tale that movie with fish Will Smith in it?” “YES!” shrieks June. “That one.” And that’s how the kids end up watching Shark Tale. ====================================== “And the other thing is, my sister had a baby, and I took it over because she passed away, and then her baby lost its legs, and its arms, and now he’s nothing but a stump. But I still take care of him with my wife, and it’s - it’s growing, a-and it’s - it’s fairly happy…and it’s difficult ‘cuz, I’ve been working a second shift at the factory to put food on the table, but…all the love, that I see in that little guy’s face makes it worth it in the end!” June licks her chops as she looks at stupid little animated shrimp on the TV screen. “He looks delicious. I would eat him.” Hazel gasps and looks up at June, though she can’t stifle a giggle. “June!” “He looks yummy and he talks a lot. Just like a certain rabbit that I know!” Hazel throws a pillow at June, though it somehow misses the tower entirely. “You’re missing the whole point of the movie!” “The point,” mewls June, “Is that fishes are delicious. AND shrimp. AND fish Will Smith.” Sheriff laughs at her from the comfort of his hammock. “Now, June, you wouldn’t eat fish Will Smith, would you?” The feline nods aggressively. “I would eat him raw.” “You wouldn’t even fry him up? No breading, nothing?” “Nope.” The otter chuckles and shakes his head. “You are one strange little mammal, June.” As the complex and masterful plot of Shark Tale moves away from eating fish and turns towards themes of integrity and acceptance, June’s interest in the film starts to wane. She loves this movie, but at her young age, she doesn’t quite grasp the narrative mastery woven into the film. She gently nudges her popcorn bowl off the tower until it falls to the carpet below. The cat has officially grown bored of the fish movie. Tier by tier, June leaps down from her tree until her paws touch down on the carpet below. Then she makes her way over to the dog bed, where David is chilling with a bowl of unpopped kernels. He ate all of his popcorn before the movie even had a chance to begin. “Oh, hey.” The boy greets her with a gentle scratch behind the ears. “What’re you doing down here?” “Got tired of the cat tree,” answers June with a shrug. “Can I sit with you?” “Really? I mean, yeah, sure…I dunno if the dog bed is any better, but...” The cat ignores David’s yammering as she crawls up to him and flops down beside him. Then, she scoots right up to the dog and lays her little head on his stomach. He feels his face get a little bit warm. As if his wagging tail didn’t give it away. This isn’t the first time she’s done something like this; it’s a well-known fact that June is a cuddling addict. Unfortunately, all this physical affection causes David to crack like a dinner plate. It doesn’t help that she still isn’t wearing any pants. This isn’t exactly anything new, but for a boy his age, that doesn’t really matter. A girl’s underwear is still a girl’s underwear, no matter how many times he’s seen it. And she looks unbelievably cute in those tight lavender panties of hers. He tries not to stare at her tail-end too much as he reaches down to pet the top of her head. This is fine, he assures himself. Totally normal…friend…stuff. But as she wriggles closer to him, and he feels her paw come to rest on his leg, the boy comes to a horrifying realization. Shit, I’m gonna get a boner. Any guy would run the risk of getting a hard-on with such an adorable cat in their lap. But for a boy as young as David? Suddenly it’s no longer a risk - it’s a certainty. Normally, he could quickly conceal it by tucking it into the waistband of his pants. But with June’s head laid on his stomach, there is no way he can do that without giving himself away. He’s never been able to stifle an erection before. That young, impatient dick of his has gotten him in countless embarrassing situations. And now, his best friend is about to get an eyeful of it mere inches away from her face. But, as it starts to stiffen, he realizes that he has more time than he initially thought. June’s attention is glued to Shark Tale; it’ll be at least another minute before she notices anything. As long as she doesn’t look down, that is… So, thinking quickly, the boy starts to look around. He knows he needs to find something to cover himself with. However, when he goes to grab one of the thousands of pillows that make up Fort Zion, he finds that, by some stroke of sheer bad luck, there isn’t a single one within arm’s reach. But he does have a blanket. David grabs a big, heavy blanket, and flings it outwards with both arms. As it flattens out, the air resistance causes it to slowly drift down over the top of the dog bed. And, much to the dog’s relief, it covers his pelvis - as well as June’s head. Now, she should pop her cute little head out of the blanket so she can properly see the movie. But, she doesn’t do that. Instead of pulling her head out from under the blanket, she just…stays under there. Moving her head around slightly, as if she’s trying to get comfortable. What…what is she doing? I thought she wanted to watch Shark Ta - what the FUCK??? There’s a bump - a nudge between his legs. A sudden, unusual sensation that sends a bolt of lightning straight up his spine. And as it hits his brain, the horny young dog realizes what the cat is actually doing down there. June is fucking nuzzling his hard-on. The boy clutches the fabric of the dog bed as he struggles not to have a god damn heart attack. Instantly, his pulse becomes as rapid as a rabbit. The jig is up; she knows he has a boner. And yet, it seems that she isn’t reacting at all in the way that he expected. As affectionate as June is, the boy never thought he’d feel her nose rubbing against the side of his dick. But in spite of the shock, he doesn’t stop her from doing it. In fact, he places a paw on her head and scratches her carefully behind the ears. Gently nudging her face deeper into his crotch, to see just how the cat will react. And, to his utter bewilderment, she gets even deeper between his legs. Pushing her nose against the base of his bulge like he’s hiding a can of tuna in his pants. It isn’t long before he feels a curious little paw grabbing at him, slowly kneading the tip of his tent. Oh, god, that feels good… He can hardly believe this is happening. What demon has possessed little June, that she’d bury her face so deep in his crotch? And she only seems to get more handsy by the second, moving her fuzzy little paws down to measure the length of his dick. Her purring reverberates in the boy’s chest, just to let him know how thoroughly the girl is enjoying this. How much she enjoys marking his crotch with her scent, and pawing the length of his desperate erection. And she hasn’t even gotten him out of his pants yet. It occurs to David that June might have some kind of disdain for pants. After all, she was pretty eager to take hers off earlier, and now she seems intent on getting David’s off, too. The way she nips irritably at the button of his jeans… Jeez, is she trying to eat me? With enough fumbling, June manages to pop the button, and then she grabs the zipper tab with her teeth and tugs it all the way down. She doesn’t have to say anything; the boy knows what she’s looking for. So he shuffles his pants a bit further down his jeans until his electric blue boxer briefs are all that separates June from his dick. She doesn’t take it out immediately - after all, she understands how risky this is. But that is exactly what makes it so thrilling - Hazel and Sheriff have no idea. They’re too busy looking at the TV to notice that June and David are fooling around under a blanket. The boy puts his paw on the feline’s hip, slowly feeling his way down her body. She’s completely unseen under the blanket, but he doesn’t need to see her to know that she’s got a gorgeous little figure. And once he’s found the waistband of her panties, he can’t help but slip his paw under the fabric. This is so fucked up…she’s just, like…completely okay with this… As he’s feeling his way around the curve of her ass, she’s tugging on the hole at the front of his underwear. Fumbling around in the folds until she feels the tip of his dick on her cute little paw beans. The boy takes a deep, shuddery breath as he feels her paw slide down the length of his cock. Deeper and deeper, she reaches inside, and once she’s got ahold of his knot, she pulls it out through the gap. Oh, GOD… It twitches desperately against June’s little nose, greeting her the same way a mouse might greet a tiger. Certainly, the way that she breathes on it, David worries… …She’s gonna try to eat it, isn’t she? Imagine his worry when he feels her start licking it. Dragging her little barbed tongue along the underside, hungrily admiring all five inches of him. The young dog’s tongue rolls out of his mouth as he starts to pant frantically. This is a completely new sensation for him, and he’s not sure if he can handle all the heat building in his groin. Jesus…Oh, shit, oh, shit…we’re gonna get CAUGHT! What are we DOING??? As much as he’d like to keep letting her do this, David’s not sure if he can take it anymore. He grabs the edge of the blanket and lifts it slightly, looking down into the shadow cast underneath. And there, nestled right between his fuzzy young legs, is a wide-eyed feline that is almost invisible in the darkness. All he can see is a pair of big, glowing eyes and a mischievous grin that rivals the moon in its breadth. He watches that smile split into a pair of daggered jaws as she touches the tip of her tongue to his cock. The cat giggles quietly as she squeezes his knot. “Nice dick.” “What the hell are you doing down there?” pants David. “It’s called a blowjob! You like it?” The young dog chuckles nervously. His grasp on sex is…loose, at best. He knows this is a thing you can technically do, but he never saw the appeal… Until now, of course. The boy sighs defeatedly and puts a paw on June’s head. “Just…just be quiet about it, okay?” The young feline assures him with a subtle nod. And once David lets go of the blanket, she goes back to licking him. Covering him up in those gentle feline kisses, her spit making him slick, sticky and warm. The way he twitches, she knows it drives him crazy. Each tender lick, no matter how cautious, is enough to send a jolt all the way up his spine. But now, she’s done being cautious. She wants to fucking devour him. At just twelve years old, David doesn’t have much dick to offer her, but that ends up working out perfectly in her favor. At his size, she can open up her maw and swallow him whole. All of David’s muscles tense up when he suddenly feels teeth baring down on his cock. He has to force himself not to bark as she clumsily shuts her jaws around him. Trapping him in the razor-sharp confines of her clumsy little mouth. She wants to fucking DEVOUR me! The glands at the back of her throat trigger almost instantly. It isn’t long before she’s drooling all over David’s dick. She doesn’t really know to bob her head or anything; instead, she just keeps him there, attacking with her tongue. Swirling it in circles around his sensitive end and trying very hard to cram it down his urethra. The young dog takes a deep breath and gives her ass a squeeze in a desperate attempt to play it cool. She is about as clumsy as you’d expect of an eleven year-old: grazing him with her teeth, biting him on accident, and struggling not to choke on all the spit and young precum. What sets her apart, though, is her voracious appetite. Even if her dick-sucking skill is lacking, her enthusiasm sure as hell isn’t. And as her lips press tight against the base of his crotch, David’s mind goes utterly blank. In a matter of seconds, he’s forgotten what he was worried about. Not just tonight, but…well, ever. School in August? Ripperquest? He doesn’t remember what any of that shit means. All he can think about is how he never expected to be doing something like this. Certainly not with little June - not with his silly, adorable Junie-Z. With each swirl of her barbed tongue around his head, he is further convinced that everything will be juuuuust fine. “Hey, June? We’re out of popcorn.” David’s blood runs cold instantly. Oh, shit. Hazel turns her attention over to the dog bed where David and June are doing nothing out of the ordinary. Except, she does see something out of the ordinary: some strange, subtle movements underneath the blanket. “David? Where’s June?” “She fell asleep,” answers David with a nervous chuckle. “She, uh…got a little too comfy, I guess.” Only now does June completely stop moving. She hadn’t realized what was happening until just now. And now, she slowly releases David’s dick and carefully stuffs it back into his boxers. “Awwww. That’s cute.” The rabbit sighs and leans back against the couch, returning her attention to Shark Tale. “Can you go grab us some more popcorn? I’m too lazy to do it. I’d ask Sheriff, but…” She glances at the hammock, where the otter is sleeping like a fucking rock. “Oh, yeah. Sure thing. Totally,” There’s a nervous waver in David’s voice. “Give me a second, I just gotta…nudge her off me. You know how cats are…” Much to the boy’s relief, June has somehow managed to work David’s pants back up his legs. All he has to do is zip them up and nudge her gently off of him. And somehow, he’s able to stand up and walk away like he didn’t just get his dick sucked under a blanket. A few minutes pass, and by the time he’s back with the popcorn, Hazel is sound asleep. The young dog sighs and sets the bowl of popcorn on the table. June is still laying in his dog bed. And as he settles back down underneath the blankets, he finds that she’s asleep, too. He sits up in the bed, looking out across the TV court. Sheriff’s arm is dangling from the hammock, almost touching the floor as he swings gently back and forth. That fierce little rabbit slumbers beneath him, curled up in a ball on the worn-out sofa. David’s paw comes to rest on June’s little shoulder, sliding gently across the back of the Coat of Larceny as he watches over his weird little pack of friends. He isn’t quite sure why, but he can’t sleep just yet, no matter how heavy his eyelids are getting. He waits for over thirty minutes. The Fortress of Zion goes silent as Shark Tale reaches the end of its credits roll. And then, after sitting in the silence for a while, David grabs the remote from the table and hits the power button, turning the tv off. Only then does he sink back into the bed. He reaches out to grab little June and pull her tight to his chest like she’s his favorite stuffed animal. Perhaps she is, in a way, but no stuffed animal could make a castle like this one, nor surprise him the way that she did this evening. It is this, ultimately, that brings David his peace. Enough to finally shut his weary eyes. Tomorrow, these three will walk with him, straight into Deeptail legend.