Werther had no good way to deal with the teary-eyed little girl before him.
"I'm not really going to feed you to the fish."
But this time, Anita shook her head with surprising resolve.
Werther's eye twitched twice. This was tricky. If an adult stood before him, man or woman, he would have plenty of ways to make them talk—and make them wish they were dead along the way.
But the person before him was an adorable little girl. He couldn't bring himself to do it. In his previous life, he'd been something of a shut-in, and he had always had a soft spot for little girls.
As Werther hesitated, Tuski came over wearing a thoroughly wicked grin.
Werther caught Tuski's expression. Does he have an idea?
Anita watched the rabbit gesture to the frightening man. Then both of them turned and smiled at her.
She suddenly had a very bad feeling.
Tuski told Werther his plan.
It came from a night when Tuski had woken up and tried to rouse Werther. But after long practice, Werther was no longer easy to wake. Tuski kicked and tugged at him, trying everything he could think of, yet Werther slept on.
At last, Tuski had used the Fur-Fur Fruit to grow strands of soft, fine fur and weave them into a brush. He tickled Werther with it, and Werther had been utterly defeated.
Now the two of them were about to use that shameless method on this little girl.
"One last chance. Tell me who you are, what your name is, and where you're from. I'll count to three. If you still won't talk, you'll regret it."
"Three. Tuski, do it."
As the little girl looked at them in wounded disbelief, Tuski bound her arms and legs to the bed with fur.