Recapture

Holly stared into the fire, biting her lip. She couldn’t believe that she had trusted Illianna, and had been betrayed. It seemed so... unreal. She sighed, closing her eyes.

Only a few minutes later, there was a rustling in the bushes, and the little group leapt to alert, taking defensive positions. They relaxed slightly as an ermine poked its head out of the leaves and blinked at them.
“Oh look, guess we’re having ferret for breakfast.” Allyssianne said.
“It’s an ERMINE Ally!” Said a very disgruntled Lara, as she morphed back into her human form. “They’re not as evil!”
“Whatever,” Allyssianne replied, “G’night.” She morphed into a wolf and curled up next to the fire, falling asleep as the others followed her example.

They looked like a rather strange bunch, A wolf, with a doe’s head resting on its back, a Manticore curled up between the doe’s legs, head resting on its stomach. The ermine was curled up between the Manticore’s jaw and chest. The raccoon finished off the gang, lying under the Manticore’s front paws and next to the wolf. They hadn’t thought to put anyone on guard duty that night, they were too tired to think about the consequences. Anyway, no one had attacked them so far during the night, so they had no reason to expect the silenced rifles that poked through the bushes around the clearing. Brightly coloured darts were fired from them, hitting the sleeping animals. There was barely a twitch from any of them, and none of them awoke. Several men dressed in dark camouflage stepped out towards them, gathering the animals and taking them away.