#shamlamb

My part for Week 3 for @/stychu-stych's COTLtober, which I did a bonus doodle with as compensation for being late and skipping Week 4! This was my first drawing with Lamb's redesigned fleece and my first time drawing Shamura and Leshy!

Fun fact: while Lamb loves all of their spouses equally, they aren’t afraid to admit that they prefer their other spouses’ much gentler kisses over Leshy’s biting and nipping 😂

"We're lost," the lamb accused, the red eye of their sword fixed on the spider.

"Do not be absurd," Shamura said. "I am simply familiarizing myself with my temple once more."

"Which is your way of saying we're lost," the lamb nearly seethed, sighing and crossing their arms. Their sword changed its shape and returned to their head as the Red Crown. "Shamura, be totally honest with me. Do you remember which way the library is?"

"Archives," Shamura corrected instantly. "Libraries are for browsing. Archives are for record keeping. And none are allowed to enter my archives but me."

"And me," the lamb said, giving the spider a firm, slanted glare. "Because there's no way I'm letting you go in there alone. You'll get lost."

"A bold assumption to make, that I would not know my own archives like the backs of my hands," Shamura said, their eyes narrowed with the barest hint of a warning.

"In your head," the lamb clarified, taking their sword from their head to slice through a giant, thin spider web that covered the large, arching doorway they passed beneath. "Lost in your head. I would never be able to find you and get you out of there."

"I am starting to tire of being used against myself," Shamura hissed under their breath.

"Heket asked me," the lamb said, moving to step ahead of the spider. "She asked me specifically not to let you go in there alone. Told me that you'd literally get lost in there for years while your disciples ran your cult."

Shamura said nothing at that, the silence its own concession.

"Oh, this looks like it," the lamb said, stopping in front of a large, grand door. Reaching for one of the handles, the lamb hissed and retracted their hand when a barrier of magic sprung up to burn them. When they glanced at the Red Crown, it gave them no answers. "Well, fuck. Shamura, why did your door bite me?"

"It requires-" the spider began, before pausing. Their features twitched into a frown, and they gave the lamb a look. "It requires a password."

"Well?" the lamb asked, gesturing to the door. Shamura sighed and stepped close.

They murmured in a foreign tongue, a language the lamb could not understand. Slowly, the hum of magic that protected the door began to fade. When it was gone, Shamura stepped closer and reached for the handle. Though the doors were large, they easily pulled one open.

"If you insist on coming in with me, my only rule is this," they said, curt and to the point. "Do not touch anything. Do not look at anything. And do not wander off."

"That's three rules," the lamb pointed out. Shamura nodded despite that.

"And you will follow all of them," they said, before making their way inside the archives. "For the safety of my records, and your own."

The lamb rolled their eyes, dismissing their sword and following the spider inside.

Shamura's archives were dark, and when the doors shut behind them, they were shrouded in pitch black. Shamura continued walking, unbothered by this, but the lamb promptly fumbled and tripped.

A hand caught their arm, and the Red Crown brightened enough to see Shamura keeping them from falling. The spider looked down at the lamb, their face carved from the shadows with red light. The mandibles that protruded from their mouth clicked in amusement.

"Careful, little lamb," Shamura said, pulling them upright.

Embarrassed, the lamb nodded, and Shamura released their arm. The spider led the way, navigating the darkness with ease while the lamb was forced to hurry and stay close by the light of the Red Crown alone.

Shamura clearly knew the archives well, going straight to a specific section with no trouble. What they did not know was the exact location of the knowledge they sought, and thus, the lamb could only sit on the floor and wait while the spider searched through the shelves.

Two hours in, the lamb pushed themself to their feet. "I'm gonna go stretch my legs," they said. Shamura, now seated and surrounded by books and scrolls, gave a soft hum, but did not raise their head.

Two minutes later, the lamb was lost. They swore they only turned one corner, but when they returned to where they thought they had left Shamura, the spider and their pile of knowledge were gone. Retracing their steps and trying a different way back didn't work either.

"Shamura?" they called out through the darkness, but there was no answer. Sighing, they lifted their hands, groaning and dragging them down their face. "Fuuuck, okay. Shit. How do you find a spider in a huge, creepy, dark-"

The air shifted behind them, and they summoned their sword, turning on instinct to block the clanging strike. With its form changed, the Red Crown could not give off as much light, but what little it did revealed Shamura, the blade of an axe scraping the sword of the Red Crown. Shamura's eyes were clouded and unfocused.

"Fuck," the lamb said. Shamura pulled the axe away and promptly kicked them square in the chest.

The air was struck from their lungs as they flew backwards, hitting the ground hard and rolling. Their sword clattered to the ground somewhere, and they lay in the pitch black, trying to catch their breath. A presence crouched over them, a knee pinning their forearm to the ground by their side.

"How did you get in here?"

"Shamura," the lamb said, flexing the fingers of their free hand. The Red Crown was taking its sweet time to return to them. "Shamura, it's me, come on-

The blade of the axe cut into the ground by their head, and the body pinning theirs shifted, warm breath caressing the lamb's face.

"How did you get in here," the spider enunciated, their voice hard. "And who are you?"

"Shamura, it's me," the lamb said, a tinge of desperation leaking into their voice as they reached for the Red Crown again. The sword returned to their hand, only for Shamura to grab their wrist and pin it too. "Shamura, it's me, it's the lamb, we're trying to find something, remember? Heket asked me to come with you!"

At the mention of Heket, Shamura's grip slackened, and the lamb pulled their arm free once more. The Red Crown returned to their head, brightening their surroundings and revealing Shamura's dark eyes. Now bathed in red light, the spider's eyes glimmered with incorrect recognition.

"The Red Crown," they murmured, their voice hard and their body tensing. Their gaze slid from it to the face of the lamb, tightening with fury.

In that split second before Shamura did anything, the lamb rushed to think. They couldn't physically attack the ex god of war, not like this. Their curse was a fire curse, which would've been out too even if it didn't come with the immediate risk of Shamura separating their head from their body (if not for the attack, then for setting fire to their archives). They were pinned, and Shamura was out of their own head, lost in time, back when they were a Bishop and the lamb was their enemy.

Unable to think of anything else that would help them get out of here without Shamura murdering them, the lamb did something stupid. With their free hand, they grasped the purple of Shamura's robes and pulled the spider down into a kiss.

Shamura tensed in surprise, struggling against their grip, but the lamb held on. Desperate, they kissed the spider so hard that the fangs that protruded from Shamura's mouth sliced through the flesh of their lips. The tang of iron and the taste of blood flooded their senses, but they held on, jamming their mouth against the spider's own.

Shamura shifted, and suddenly their pinned arm was free. As they lifted it to grasp onto Shamura's shoulder, an arm slid beneath their back, hoisting them flush against a war toned chest. Now, they were being kissed back.

When they parted, the lamb was relieved to see that the proper sort of recognition and clarity had returned to Shamura's eyes.

"Lamb," they said, their voice heavy. "You're bleeding."

"That is your fault, you bit me," the lamb retorted, now sitting up with their hands firm on Shamura's shoulders. "Where the fuck did- do you just keep weapons in here? Where the fuck did you get an axe?"

Shamura looked to where the axe was stuck in the ground, wincing. "That would be one of my old ceremonial axes," they muttered, reaching for the handle. "My apologies, lamb."

The lamb sighed, wiping the blood that flowed down their chin. "It's fine, Shamura. Did you at least find the damn thing we came in here for?"

Carefully, Shamura helped the lamb to their feet, wrenching their axe out of the ground with a twitching crack of wood. From within their robes, they pulled a wrapped, tightly bound scroll. "This is it, I believe."

"Thank fuck." The lamb sighed, dropping their forehead onto Shamura's shoulder. "Can we go?"

"Of course," Shamura said, tilting their head down at the lamb. "I will need to return my axe to its case, first. Might I assume that we will discuss what happened here back within the safety of your cult?"

"Oh, haha! That!" The lamb laughed, pushing themself away from Shamura. "Yeah, um, we can totally, just don't tell Heket."

"Tell her what?" Shamura asked, a glimmer of amusement in their eyes. "That you left me alone in my archives, or that you-"