Heirot

Roboticly Neko picked up various sticks and branches. Not really thinking and yet also thinking, just about small details.

"Are you sure you are alright?"

The question was so random to Neko that she almost looked surprised. Deep down, she knew what Laya meant. Somehow Laya understood but, did she really want to talk about it?

"It's funny," she started to talk before she could stop herself. "I used to like being around guys and now... only my brother and Telanis don't make me want to flinch." she fought the urge to cry. She wanted to beat this, make it not affect her so much, to get over it. Adonis seemed too real of a man. He wasn't but it was his attitude. He was frightful, distant, angry... It reminded her, unfortunately, of how the soldiers handled her.

"I know," Laya said, stooping to lift another stick. "You look at every man and expect them to be just like the one who hurt you. You fear they will do the same." Another and another, her arms were half-way full with sticks.

"Don't push yourself, Neko," Laya said softly. "It isn't meant to be forced away, that only makes it worst. It will take time. Eventually the fear fades..." Somewhat, Laya thought. She still hadn't completely gotten over the fear. However she no longer froze fearfully at the sight of any man. Just at the sight of men she knew were mean and cruel. "You escaped him... That is precious and worth being thankful over."

Laya looked away, her hand tightening around the stick she had just picked up. Escape... How lucky. How she wished she could have escaped Kron. Neko was lucky... and brave. Far braver than she thought she was.

Neko thought about what Laya had said. So, it wont just go away? How sad and depressing. A mutual understanding came between the girls and for the rest of the time, they stayed silent while picking up random branches. Neko didn't want to talk about it anymore, figuring if it was going to go away, it was better to just forget it happened. Let it become the background of her memory. She was determined to beat this however she could.

Before she even realized it, her arms were heavily ladened with sticks.

"I think... we have enough." she said, humor in her voice.

Laya looked down at her own pile. She laughed. "Yeah, I think you are right!" she said, smiling softly. "Well, lets walk this way to see if there is a clearing.

A little ways away there was a clearing that was based around a steaming hotspring. Ongoreth was famous for them, but there was something strangely familiar to her about this one. It looked like a perfect place to take a bath and make camp. Laya looked around. What was it that made this place so familiar. On the other side of the clearing was a low bare branch. A couple of rocks were conveniently placed on the edge of the stone sided hotspring.

Then, it came back to her in a painful blinding flash of horrible memories. She beat them back feircely, dropping the sticks on the ground. It would look strange if she voted to move on to another spot, so she didn't say anything. "Well, lets get the others? I don't know what we will do for food. I guess we'll have to go hungry for the night."

"Mmm..." Something looked off with Laya, but Neko wouldn't broach the subject with her friend. There seemed to be too many delicate issues with them both. "Should get the others here. Maybe with my brother better he and I could hunt something..." then remembering that Telanis wasn't comfortable with meat she added, "Or maybe just edible fruits, berries... whatever we can find." she smiled and then set down her pile. This place definitely looked more comfortable than the sand.

Telanis toyed with a long strand of grass that was growing on the ground next to where he sat. His brother still lay stretched out on the sand nearby, ignoring him expertly. Telanis didn't try to make him talk, but he wished he would. He wanted to ask his brother about the things he'd encountered, but Adonis was so hateful of humans. Would he be able to answer truthfully?

"Does your leg hurt?" he finally asked.

"It's broken, idiot," Adonis said dully without even looking at him.

Telanis leaned to look more closely at the offended leg. "I could...if you'll let me..."

"Fine," Adonis grumbled.

Telanis's eyes widened. "You'll let me?"

"You can't help it, right? It'll drive you crazy till you fix it, so get it over with."

Telanis paused, confused by the bitterness in Adonis's voice, but he crawled over to where Adonis was lying and bowed his head low to the wound, restoring the bone to its proper shape. It filled him with a sense of ease to know his brother was comfortable again.

"We are born slaves to this power," Adonis said so quietly that Telanis had to struggle to hear over the lapping waves of the shore. "We can't help but save people. No other thought enters our mind; it's unbearable to resist it. We save and protect with mad, blind devotion, never thinking of what it would be like to live for ourselves. Never asking for the freedom to be selfish. We are no better than slaves."

"You call love a form of slavery?" Telanis frowned.

Adonis looked up at him, and his gaze softened with compassion for his brother. He didn't understand. Of course he didn't. Telanis was still caught up in the cycle; he had not be set free. "I will save you, brother. You will not be made to repeat my mistakes."

Telanis looked away. His eyes hurt with emotion. "I miss you, Adonis," he said, feeling his sorrow catch up to him. He would not watch his brother suffer like this forever. "I will save you, too."

If he only knew how.

"The girls are late," Adonis said, sitting up and acting as if nothing had happened. As if he couldn't tell Telanis was on the verge of tears.

"I'll look for them. Please watch over Kratos," Telanis said, standing with his back turned and walking swiftly off into the woods. He rubbed the blur from his eyes and followed Laya's scent on into the trees, trying not to think about anything.

Laya saw Telanis enter the forest just as they were heading back to get them. "Oh, we were just coming back to get you guys. We found a good place to camp for the night..." Laya smiled softly at him. He wasn't smiling that happy smile. Was something wrong with him?

"Are you alright?" she asked him softly, coming to stop just before him. She put a hand gently on his arm.

Telanis didn't answer or meet her eyes, he just moved forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, having to stoop slightly to put his arms around her shoulders. He drew a deep, careful breath and let it out. "Sorry, just a second," he whispered shakily, hoping he didn't scare her..

Laya blinked for a moment, wondering what was bothering him. She didn't mind him embracing her. In fact, that is exactly what she wanted. However, she didn't know what Neko could be thinking about it at this moment. "Its alright," she whispered to him, finally managing to work her arms out from between their bodies so that she could hug him in return.

She pressed her cheek to his tenderly, trying to comfort him for a problem she didn't know. She wanted to know. She didn't like Telanis troubled, she wanted him to be his usual happy self.

Neko had not been paying much attention to the happy scene in front of her. She had heard a noise from somewhere beyond the trees and she was staring after it now. Concentrating her eyes between the trees in the direction she knew she had heard it from. What had that been? An animal just passing by? It sounded more like the crack of a branch... maybe it fell? No, she felt something watching her, them. She shivered knowing the feeling of being watched too well, but this was different... so it seemed. She was frowning trying to figure it out.

"What... are you?" she whispered under her breath. She toyed with the notion that maybe they should leave this spot. Could it be a predator?

Telanis fell still in Laya's embrace, making himself calm down. "I'm alright," he said, drawing back to give her a sheepish smile.

Adonis just sighed and looked off at the water and away from the group at the edge of the trees. Bunch of fools. Admittedly, they seemed to be better at making his brother happy than he did, but that was a false happiness, one that couldn't last.

Hmm? Travelers? A figure pondered from directly beyond where Neko was looking. Oh, one was looking at him! She was quite pretty, also. Of course, this wasn't the best time to introduce himself to strangers. Then again, maybe she could help!

With that thought, he trotted cheerfully out of the foliage that was hiding him, casually approaching the human girl. The handsome rings on his soft-furred coat shined beautifully over his muscular body, and his ringed tail flicked curiously from side to side. There was a slight limp in his gait, favoring his right forepaw. New people! Running up to Neko, he pounced her joyfully, knocking her to the ground under his weight and sniffing her face.

Neko screamed as the leopard pounced on top of her and began to sniff her. "D-don't eat me!" she cried, trembling all over. Neko's scream awoke her brother and Kratos was on his feet instantly. Though he had no weapon, he still charged to where Telanis, Laya, and Neko were and almost tripped over his own feet at the sight of the leopard on his sister.

"Ahh! G-get off her!" he yelled in a faltering voice. What could he do against a leopard?!

The leopard paused, glancing up at the new person that was waving him away. Then, as if dismissing him, it turned its head back to Neko and gave her cheek an affectionate lick.

At the sound of Neko's scream, Adonis scrambled to his feet and raced to their location. The moment he saw the leopard crouched on top of her, his eyes widened and bled to black, the beginnings of black magic rushing through his aura.

"Adonis!" Telanis shouted, spinning from his place by Laya and restraining his brother with both arms, "No!"

"It's attacking her!" Adonis snarled, wrestling with his brother. His eyes, including the whites, were entirely black.

"It might be friendly!" Telanis groaned through clenched teeth.

"Save your naive logic for someone else," Adonis spat, throwing Telanis off. No sooner was he free of his brother, then the leopard changed targets. Adonis found himself pinned on his back with a warm, course cat tongue harrassing his cheek. "Off!" he commanded it, grabbing its paw because that was the closest thing to him. A rush of pain went through him, and it wasn't his own. Confused, he lost the concentration that he was about to use to snuff out the creature's life, as he did with the wolves in the cave.

The leopard stayed sprawled on top of Adonis, but favored its paw carefully away from the unicorn's grip. It seemed utterly unaware of the danger it had just been in.

Neko scrambled to her feet and Kratos rushed over her. Spewing questions at her, wondering if she was okay.

"I'm fine!" she said and put her attention back onto the leopard. It wasn't attacking Adonis? "I don't think... it's here to hurt us...?" Even that sounded odd to her. "Telanis! Can you... tell at all?"

"It's happy. That could mean anything," Telanis shook his head. "It's also hurt."

"Whatever, just get it off!" Adonis snapped, groaning under its weight. "Your way, or my way," he warned, his eyes growing dangerous again.