Heirot

Telanis's shirt was larger than a shirt she would wear. She crawled behind him in the back of the boat, so that he sat in between herself and Armarra. The boat was far enough away now and they were in the middle of the ocean, so she didn't have to worry about anyone admiring her form. She stripped her wet clothes off and pulled the long shirt over her form. It went to about four inches above her knees. It was warm from Telanis's body heat. She wrapped her arms around herself, then hung her clothes on the side of the boat so they would dry.

"Thank you," she told softly.

"When we get to shore we will go our seperate ways from the captain," she told Telanis, wondering if he would disagree.

Telanis wouldn't normally leave someone sitting out stranded, but this was a special case. "Okay. We will," he promised, grateful to her for accomodating his wishes this far. "Thank you."

"Oh, how gracious of you," Amarra hissed at Laya. "As if I would want to say with you anyway. Don't think you're so high above me. Sure, I toyed with him a little, but I'm not the one who just took advantage of a mythical beast. Did you forget that thing has four legs and a tail?" she smirked.

Telanis frowned, working at the oars with his back to Amarra's taunting. He didn't understand...he just had no idea what he'd just done or what it meant. With just Laya there, it seemed so simple and beautiful. Natural. With Amarra it hurt. Did Amarra only understand the kind that hurt, or had Telanis just made some huge misunderstanding? He glanced up at Laya with a calm, questioning expression.

"Don't listen to her," Laye said, looking Telanis straight in the eye. "She just wants to make you doubt. If you felt that it was right, and enjoyed what you did, then you have no reason to doubt it, okay? I don't..." At least not yet, she thought.

The only thing she was doubting at the moment was how it all began. Had she taken advantage of Telanis? She didn't think so. She offered to help him... At first she had no idea what it would lead too. She hadn't known they would... What if she was supposed to make him stop? However... he seemed so eager. Was that alright? Or thoughts were jumbled. She didn't feel guilty until she thought about the fact she possibly had taken advantage of Telanis. Especially since he seemed to be wondering if he should regret it or not.

Please don't regret it, she thought slowly, please. I love you, and would never want to cause you pain.

Telanis took a deep breath and nodded at Laya, accepting her words. He had never done anything that went against his instincts. The only thing was, sexual instincts didn't exist for unicorns. That left him on some shaky ground. But it was wonderful, and no one was hurt by it. He decided not to fear it. "I believe in you," he said to Laya in earnest. "I care for you, and I don't regret a minute of the time I've known you." He threw his weight into the oars as a wave yanked against his strokes.

Laya sighed. She was glad for that. Though, she couldn't help but feel the small bit of regret wanting to come forth. Telanis was such a good creature. If he were to lose his innocence to someone, it should have been someone worthy. She hadn't thought about it. Now, she could be the ruination of him.

Or maybe, like always, she was overthinking everything.

"You are doing a good job with those Telanis," she said. Sitting behind him she could admire the way his muscles flexed as he moved the oars and how beautiful it was. Like art that moved.

"Thank you!" Telanis grinned, pulling at the oars. "I used to watch fisherman in their boats along the shore of the forest." He looked wistful for a moment. "I'd like to return there. Our kind grows very attached to our forests." He looked over his shoulder at the shoreline, slowly creeping closer. Another wave toyed with the boat, and the unicorn felt the beginnings of nausea starting up his gut again. Apparently the medicine was finally wearing off.

She pattted his shoulders. "We're almost there... I'll find us away to get you back to your forest. I promise," she told him, and her voice held conviction. She would try her best to get him back there.

"Thank you," Telanis said with a genuine smile, her words inspiring hope in the unicorn. It cleared his head somewhat to know that it was just a matter of time before he saw his forest again. For now, all he had to think about was making sure they reached land again.

"I wonder how Neko and Kratos are doing..." he said thoughtfully. "And my brother. I wonder if he's with them, or if he's off alone somewhere."

There was a scuffing sound as the boat shoved onto the shore, muffled by the roar of the waves. Laya jumped out of the boat, sloshing to shore with her clothes in her hand and Telanis's shirt going to her knees.

"I'm sure they are all fine. They are pretty good at taking care of themselves," she said, pulling the boat further on shore so everyone could step onto land without getting wet.

"You," she said to Armara. "We part ways here."

Armara scowled at them. "And what will you two do? Go off and be alone in the woods?" she scoffed. There was an edge of jealousy in her voice. She'd been so close to having Telanis. "He only bedded you because I wasn't able to finish the job. He wanted me, I had him," she asserted to Laya.

Telanis's eyes darkened. He rose tall to his feet and would have looked quite imposing if he didn't wobble visibly trying to stand on his sea-dazed legs. "I pity you," he said coldly to the woman, stepping toward where Laya stood on the shore. Unfortunately, his purposeful stride tipped the half-beached dinghy and he wound up flying sideways, landing ungracefully in the shallow water.

He looked up at Laya, rather embarrassed, but couldn't help showing her a small, amused smile.

Laya just stared at the woman for a moment, however held her tongue. She just stepped forward and helped Telanis up, trying not to laugh at how cute he was. Instead she gave him a sweet smile.

"Come on Telanis. if she won't walk away from us, we will walk away from her. " She looped her arm in Telanis's and carried her still wet clothes in the other arm. Glancing over her shoulder only once to look at the woman.

Telanis skipped to his feet, following the supportive grip of Laya's hand. He approved of her plan. It felt good - no, incredible to walk on land again. He clasped her hand in his between them as they walked down the beach. "Somehow walking away is not satisfying," he said to her with a grin. "Shall we race instead?" He gave her hand a squeeze, remembering the game she'd taught him when he was learning to run on human legs.

"Okay," Laya said with a grin that had suddenly formed on her face. "But, this time I get the head start!" With a soft laugh she gently pulled her hand away and took off running, pausing only for a moment to look back at him and urge him to catch up with her. It was hard to run fast in the deeper parts of the sand, and she kept getting bogged down at some points.

Amarra looked on at them like she'd never seen anything so annoying in her life, but she stayed put, largely because her hands and feet were still tied. It would take her a while to get herself loose.

Telanis burst into a run next to Laya, kicking up sand behind him as he worked to keep up. Somehow running on the beach was a little complicated technically compared to running in the forest, but it felt good to feel his legs and body in motion. He pushed ahead and managed to swat his hand out and touch Laya's hair. "I'm catching up!" he warned. The beach gave way to trees up ahead.

Laya laughed excitedly and urged herself to run faster. "Oh, no you don't! I won't let you!" she said with a smile, glancing over her shoulder. She ran into the forest through a trail just wide enough to fit too people side by side. The forest floor was damp, and the air was cool under the protection of the canape of trees.

She hopped over a root and remembered how clumsy Telanis could be at times so she stopped just past it and pointed. "Telanis, be careful!"