Whumpsgiving No. 8
Late entry I never finished. Hosted by @snakes-events-blog
Prompt by @hurtwithallthecomfort and @whumporama here.
Contents: living weapon whump, bad caretaker/caretaker forced to be whumper, inhuman whumpee, fantasy/implied slurs, physical abuse, muzzles, choke collar, dog attack, recovery, threatened lashing, physical abuse, dehumanization, implied slavery
Back
It was thirty feet inside the camp that caretaker decided they had made a terrible mistake bringing Whumpee here.
"Hey, mutt! Thought I smelled wet dog," a man heckled, stopping directly in front of the pair.
Whumpee tensed, back going taught. But they kept their head down deferentially.
"Out of the way," Caretaker ordered gruffly.
The man smiled, slick and at ease. "Just want to have some fun. You know how boring these embargo stints get, sir."
Caretaker hated being back in their military uniform. Before meeting Whumpee, they had been the Empress' general, in charge of terrorizing and conquering the continent. But they were too remote here for news of their abandoning post to have traveled.
"That's 'General'," Caretaker barked, pushing the man out of the way. But he didn't budge.
"So this is your pet, huh General?" the man asked, smoothing his hair back.
Whumpee flinched. Caretaker winced internally. "I told you to move out of my way. You're on early morning watch for the rest of this month. No rotation."
The man paled marginally. That assignment was far from coveted. He bowed slightly and backed out of the way. Caretaker moved to go past, Whumpee following close.
Caretaker missed what happened next but Whumpee yelped out. Caretaker whipped around in time to catch Whumpee punch the man, the blow landing squarely against his jaw and hard enough to send him to the dirt. Caretaker's stomach clenched cold. Whumpee straightened in time for Caretaker's slap to land, ringing out through the clearing.
Whumpee went pale, falling to their knees, head bowed. "S-sorry, master," they whispered, voice hoarse.
Caretaker ignored them and helped the unpleasant soldier up. They brushed him off sharply. "Get going. Don't forget your new assignment."
"You're going to let that dog get away with that?" the man's hands shook with rage, fisted tight at his sides.
Caretaker sighed, long suffering and dramatic. "I believe that is up to my disgression. I already reprimanded it. Surely you're not threatened by a little puppy dog?" Caretaker pouted sympathetically, a mocking gleam in their eyes.
The man shoved off against Caretaker's chest. "Hey! I—"
That's as far as he got before Whumpee was at his throat, already in wolf form.
"Shit!" Caretaker hissed, pulling Whumpee off the soldier. Well, attempting to.
Whumpee had clamped their jaws securely around the man's neck and his struggles were getting weaker and weaker, arms barely flailing at his sides.
Caretaker whipped out a small bottle, throwing wolfsbane at Whumpee, the herb infused water steaming and hissing as it made contact with Whumpee's wolf coat.
Whumpee howled and staggered, rubbing their back in the dirt to get the awful sting out of their skin. But Caretaker new it was hopeless, just as Whumpee did. The wolfsbane would sting for hours yet.
Caretaker got on Whumpee's back and pulled a wire muzzle over their snout, yanking on the choke chain that was supposed to just be for appearances.
Whumpee whimpered, going still.
Caretaker finally pulled them to heel at their feet. They huffed to catch their breath, staring into Whumpee's scared, wild eyes.
"Now, mutt, look at the trouble you caused," Caretaker chided. By now the whole camp was watching.
Caretaker motioned two men over and ordered them to help the offending soldier to the infirmary tent. Then they turned to Whumpee, dreading their options.
The crowd started jeering their suggested punishments, as Caretaker's mind raced. They couldn't hurt Whumpee. They had hurt them worth a lifetime. Now all they wanted was to tuck them away from these awful soldiers and out of sight of anyone who would dare hurt them. But they were about sixty seconds from being caught out in their deception and being back in Whumper's clutches would be so much worse.
"It'll be a lashing," Caretaker declared, the words landing heavy in their gut. Whumpee trembled, curling in on themselves at Caretaker's feet, a soft whine cutting into Caretaker like a knife. The crowd's excitement increased so Caretaker cut them off, "Private lashing."
They yanked on Whumpee's choke chain and half led, half dragged them to the back of the camp where the werewolf quarters stood. It was something between a barn and a stable but Caretaker knew they would find any manner of torture device that they could wield against a werewolf in the cabinets. Their stomach churned once more at the familiar setting. They desperately wanted to scrub this part of their past away. For their sake but especially for Whumpee's.
Caretaker tucked them away in a stall and turned to kneel in front of Whumpee. "Sorry, pup," they grunted as they gently pulled the muzzle away. Whumpee sat obediently, sinking as deeply as they could into the ground. Caretaker frowned. Next they pulled the choke chain from their neck. "It's okay. The show's over. You're safe. No more hurting."
Whumpee just whined and placed their paws over their eyes and snout.
"Hey, hey," Caretaker hummed, rubbing at the spot on their neck that they liked. "You're okay. You're safe. I'm so sorry."
But Whumpee didn't move.
A knot of worry clenched in Caretaker's gut. "We have to get out of here." They scrubbed a hand over their face. "Are you with me?"
Whumpee barked obediently, the transformed version of a 'yes, master'.
Caretaker gnawed on their lip, worry eating them up from the inside out.
"Okay, pup. Do you want to transform or stay like that? The wolfsbane might sting less in human form."
Whumpee tilted their head to the side, questioning.
Caretaker sighed, earning a flinch from their friend. "No, no. It's okay. I'm just worried about you." They went back to stroking Whumpee's fur. "Can you transform for me? That way I don't have to put the chain back on."
Whumpee changed, morphing back to their human form, revealing their corded muscles and thick build, perfectly honed to be deadly. They sat bent over in the dirt, bowing in supplication, their bare back and neck exposed for punishment.
Shame burned in Caretaker for it. They had to make infiltration worth all this.
"Okay, pup. Up we get." Caretaker guided Whumpee to standing as gently as they were capable of with their large calloused hands, far more accustomed to a sword and a whip than precious things.
The rest of the mission went off without a hitch. They recovered the correspondence to bring back to Leader and were out without anyone else stopping them. The real trouble came when they got to base.
"Hey, Caretaker!" Teammate greeted at the door. "Cook has some food waiting for you both." She clapped Caretaker and Whumpee on the back like she always did.
Whumpee reacted like they'd been slapped again, recoiling with a gasp and shaking all over.
"Whumpee?" Teammate asked, a little hurt.
Whumpee fell to their knees. "Sorry! Sorry, master! I'll- I'll be better. I know b- better."
Something in Caretaker shattered. "Whumpee," they said softly. "You're home. You're safe. No one here is going to hurt you. Not on purpose."
"Yeah," Teammate chimed in. "Please get up."
Whumpee jumped to their feet again, nearly toppling over, face screwed up with panic.
Teammate worriedly looked to Caretaker, lost.
"I'll take it from here," Caretaker decided. "Please, have Cook send dinner to Whumpee's room."
They gently guided Whumpee deeper into base, careful to avoid other team members.
---
Whumpee couldn't stop trembling. They could tell it was upsetting Caretaker Master. They sat on their bed and dutifully spooned up the soup Cook had sent without letting Master out of their line of sight.
They missed before, when Master was nice. It was hard to remember when they'd stopped fearing it was all a trap, but they berated themself for it now. They had never deserved any of it. It had never been real.
"How's the soup?" Master asked awkwardly, fidgeting. It made Whumpee's heart beat faster, nerves curling in their stomach.
"Thank you for feeding me, Master!" they rushed out, certain their ungratefulness was about to be punished.
Master paused, taking a deep breath. "You don't have to calll me that, Whumpee. Remember? It's just Caretaker."
"Yes, Mast- Caretaker."
Caretaker stared at them, bereft in a way that made Whumpee's insides squirm, almost pleasantly.
"I-," Caretaker huffed, giving up before they started. They sucked in a breath and tried again, "Please, come back to me Whumpee."
Whumpee obediently walked over to them, kneeling before them. Confusion bubbled up in Whumpee as tears gleamed in their eyes.
"No, pup. That wasn't an order. Remember? No orders here. No hurting here."
Whumpee looked up, confused before shoving their face back down. They were just a weapon, a mutt. They had no right to look their master in the face, especially while they were awaiting orders.
"Would you like some time alone?" Caretaker asked, voice thick.
Whumpee paused, unsure what answer Caretaker wanted. They landed on nodding. Alone meant safe.
Caretaker nodded, sniffling slightly. Pausing at the door, they whispered, "I love you, Whumpee. No matter what."
Whumpee stayed where they were, staring at the door where Caretaker had softly closed it behind them. The words echoed in their chest. I love you.
Something warm glowed in their chest. Familiar but...
