The Way Forward

Silas sat still in place on the ground, his back perched against a thick root that jutted out from the dirt. His previous silence was interrupted by the chirping of birds, but he paid them no mind and continued gazing at the sky.

Even while light headed, he could keep track of his surroundings. It made it easier that he didn't seem to be in as much pain as before, some of his smaller injuries having already closed up by very small amounts. At least the blood stopped leaking from all but his impaled leg.

He found a sort of peace while sitting there by himself. But that was interrupted as he heard a twig snap from somewhere in front of him.

Grrrrrrr

And his attention became distracted upon the sound of a low husky growl, suddenly entering his ears. He lowered his gaze before him, at a twin tailed wolf in the distance, snarling at him from behind a tree. 

The wolf wore a thick coat of gray fur, with two tails jutting out the back of it, hence the name. The only difference from what one would expect of it, were the bat-like ears mounted on each side of its head.

'Hm. There was more'

His gaze lowered further, lingering around his wounds while his ears kept attentive for any movement from the beast. He tried to get up, but found that he hadn't recovered enough yet, struggling to move at all. But by the looks of his wounds, some of the smaller cuts had already shown signs of recovery.

'I need to test the speed of recovery as well it seems', yet his gaze drifted between the dagger that appeared in his hands, then returned to the beast before him, peering at the semblance of his own reflection he could see within its eyes.

'Another time'

He circled his finger, the blood orb beside him moving in front. He had it linger for a reason. And now it would serve to fulfill its duty.

The beast seemed to have stopped growling, its mouth salivating as it perched forward and prepared to sprint towards him. Silas broke off a part of the orb into a smaller spear in response. It's grayed fur tensed as if to acknowledge his threat, but it didn't stop it from lunging forward.

Yet suddenly…

Wshhhhew.

Whimper, thud.

Sat on top the wolf was an elf, a dagger embedded into its flesh. He had descended from the sky, gracefully like an angel, and yet he was here to reap the beast's soul.

Whimper.

The wolf continued to whimper under the elfs weight, pinning it down, the elfs hands clasping at the two tails with his offhand. The elf without a word, proceeded to slit its throat, before getting off of it, and wiped his brow with the dagger still in hand. He gazed over at Silas in silence, his eyes stern as he gave his attention drifting between him and the large corpse beside him.

Silas glared back, until all of a sudden his ears picked up on the snap of a twig, looking over at a dwarf accompanied by a human and female therian.

"Hahaha, oh dearie. Never thought I'd live to see the elves' tree walking technique. Took yer for a city dweller, not one of them reclusive treehoppers", the dwarf announced boisterously.

Yet the elf in question only served to stare at him silently.

"Thought cause of yer short ears…", but the elf grimaced at him, causing his smile to stiffen in place, his hand slowly moving to gently caress his long brunette beard.

"Er, nevermind, so how'd you end up here of all places? Would have thought an elf captured from that forest to have stayed in Aksumite territory, considering your kind lives on their borders an' all"

The elf merely turned his head away, uninterested in any of his questions.

"Alright, pipe down will you? He's clearly not interested", Thaite nudged the dwarfs shoulder from behind, still supporting Ferlein with his other hand.

"Or use all that extra energy to grow a few feet taller so you can help me here"

It was quite comical how he supported Ferlein learning on his arm, considering how much taller she was to him.

"S-sorry", she puffed between bated breaths.

Moving was quite difficult for her considering she already pushed herself to her limits saving him. And after almost collapsing the first few times on their trip here, it seemed her body finally realized that fact and shut down on her, her legs unable to support her own weight.

"Ay, I'd help if I could. But you said you had it anyhow. 'Least I didn't hear yer callin' down Dro over there to help ya"

"I- He was already in the trees", Thaite winced, turning his head to look away.

Yet in doing so his sights fell upon Silas, sitting there in a wretched state.

Noting his gaze, Silas stared back at him, finally speaking up as if to announce his presence.

"So, you all survived…"

And just like that, the banter stopped, everyone's attention being drawn back to him.

"Good", he nodded his head, "I've more use for you".

"Tsk", Thaite couldn't help but glare at him, wondering why he always had to sound like a typical third rate villain. But the weight on his shoulder only served to remind him what he needed to bring up.

"Look, cut us some slack, we all came back to help you. None of us ran off, shouldn't that mean something?"

And Silas seemed to ponder this, tilting his head and gazing back at the sky. But he returned his gaze moments later, leaving his question unanswered. 

"I worried I'd have to go back empty handed. But now that you're here, go gather the Finger Root to complete our quest", his hand wraps concealing his seal seemed to have been torn apart, a red glow escaping from within them; but he continued to nod his head towards Dromund in the distance.

"I believe he knows where to find it, don't you?"

Dromund had moved over to the large monster's corpse, pulling out the sword from its stomach. But on hearing attention diverted to him, he turned around, and as a response peered into his eyes, quietly nodding his head. But the moment was suddenly interrupted.

"Of course", Thaite rolled his eyes while his face grimaced, trying to turn both he and Ferlein around.

"Fuck me", he whispered under his breath.

"Oh, but leave her here…", Silas suddenly called out.

Thaite winced, turned his head and glaring back at him. It was almost as if he could hear his tone go snarky. But gazing at his face, it remained unmoved, his intentions quite vague.

"I'll cut her some slack"

"You-"

"S-stop. It's alright Thaite", Ferlein spoke up trying to soothe him down. She felt responsible for the awkward relationship between the two.

"I'm safer with him anyway, I can't keep going like this. As much as I don't want to admit it, I need some rest"

"That's what you don't want to admit?", he mumbled while moving his head to the side, his gaze concerned.

"Remember, the lass is right", the dwarf spoke, but his voice had to travel a distance, as he couldn't afford to wait, his legs already walking him away. Dromund was beside him, handing a dagger over as they fared.

"She'd just be in the way if more of 'em show up. Let her recover here"

"Okay… Okay, fine"

Upon relenting, Thaite moved her across to where Silas lay. Thaite helped her sit down on the root beside Silas, sighing as he lifted himself up.

"You… Just take care of her"

"Go", Silas commanded again.

"Tsk"

Thaite headed off on a walk, slowly turning to a jog as he caught up to the duo, the trio's backs slowly disappearing behind the many trees. Silence filled the air once more. Of course, with the exception of the birds, now accompanied by the sounds of insects.

"So…"

"..."

"Are you alright?", Ferlein tried to make small talk, her eyes probing down on his body occasionally, sometimes looking away as if vigilant of him noticing.

But he never once strayed his eyes away from where the trio departed.

"..."

His silence spoke volumes to her however. And the volume seemed to have tuned down as they both sat there in a contemplative silence for minutes on end.

"Hm", Silas suddenly mumbled, catching Ferlein's attention.

He merged the blood spear back into the head sized sphere. Then took out a quarter of the portion and used it to slash at the Carrigorn's corpse, noticing the speed difference upon different amounts of mass being used. His studious curiosity still didn't seem to be satiated.

'Oh, so the slash I sent to attack it's antennae arrived so late because it was slower… Good thing I remained on a straight path'

But his eyes narrowed at the new wound that appeared on the Carrigorn's belly, the blood that had leaked out from earlier joining up with his sphere, but he noticed that the new wound on the deceased body didn't seem to be useable.

'So it has to be alive?', he couldn't help but contemplate.

But while in thought, he turned his head slightly to Ferlein who seemed to be watching the display, his own eyes gazing as he experimented with small amounts of blood attacks. But he kept her within his peripheral vision.

"How were the others?"

"Hum?", she seemed to jolt in shock, as if unsuspecting him to engage with her.

"The dwarf, elf, and… Thaite"

"Are you worrying about us?"

"No, rather… Why didn't you leave?"

'I would have thought you dead had you not come back'

"Oh… Uh", she seemed to contemplate her next words.

"We might have. But Gal and I didn't wish to leave your side", she seemed unable to tell a lie.

"I see…"

'So that's a round-about way of saying Thaite and the elf tried to… Well I expected as much from Thaite, and I pushed the elf a little too far…'

"A necessary loss of faith"

"Huh?"

He fully turned his attention to her, his blue eyes gazing into hers, which faced no issue in reciprocating the same action. He tilted his head, which made her follow that gesture as well.

'Yet she especially, seems oddly pliable for an adult'

"Why do you trust me?"

'What's your ulterior motive…'

"Hum… I don't know?', she smiled lightly, shifting her eyes away.

But his stern gaze only served to squint as they kept pestering her, unmoving, and unrelenting. Squirming a little as she felt his gaze from her peripherals, she couldn't help but remember the incident from last night, making her feel a little uncomfortable. But then she thought of the other thing that happened as well, and calmed down a little. Yet she figured she couldn't glance back into his eyes without revealing something, so she sighed and stared back at him with a renewed resolve.

"I lived in a tribe where we served by the teachings of our pack leader"

"A Therian tribe… You were a nomad? Figures…"

"A nomad? Hum. Yes, we were a tribe that traveled a lot"

"And?"

"We, er… No. My father, you remind me of my father"

"..."

"My father was our leader, he taught all the younglings, me especially so. He brought us up to be ready for the world, me especially so. You seem to be doing the same thing, to me… Especially so"

"..."

"But he- No, he… He always wanted a son. So it was great that he still put such priority on me, he even trained me when the others went home. Until… Well, he wanted me to witness the wider world. So now you're my leader instead"

"..."

"I'm sorry if that sounds weird…"

But Silas cocked his head to the side, interrupting her.

"My father also left me…"

"That's not what he-"

"So I understand that feeling of emptiness"

"Oh"

"I see I'm filling that space for you"

But he glanced down.

'But that emptiness remains for me'

He felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Normally he'd throw it away, but he knew who it belonged to. And just like the night before, he knew it didn't mean him harm. But while a smile tried to creep on his lowered face, a thought couldn't help but enter his mind, infesting it with all the other ones of similar types.

'But she's just going to use and discard me if so', he tilted his head, looking back at her.

She seemed to have nudged her way off the root, sitting on the ground beside him.

'Or she's lying for a more secretive agenda. Probably just natural survival kicking in until she's unsealed'

But he didn't swat her hand away, instead embracing it, grabbing it with his own. The small action seemingly made her eyes go wide momentarily, before a smile crept on her lips.

'Then I'll be sure to make use of her first, it's all fair game if we're playing on the same field'

She shifted closer to him, caressing his flesh with her tanned fingers, as she noticed the splinters infesting his light skin. Her eyebrows crinkled as if bothered by it, using her claw-like fingernails to try and pluck them out. Silas was unbothered by the health care routine as he caressed her back side, touching her scars and the few he made on her a short while ago.

'I wonder how healed they are now. The rate seems slow considering they're still there. Is it similar to my own regeneration? I still need to test that later tonight'

But then new thoughts entered his mind. If he was to make use of her… Then wouldn't the rough scars be an unwanted texture to the smooth pleasantries he'd wish to indulge in?

'Perhaps her old wounds will heal over time. Or rather, would she even want to go at it again? I could just command her, I do own her after all… Like… A toy? Fuck. No'

'No, potions become less effective when applied to older wounds. I guess it doesn't matter anyway', he reflected back on how rough he treated her that night.

There were many ways to enjoy the deed, but such pathways only opened up to the daring. Besides, she seemed to have weird ways of tolerating pain, and on that night she seemed a bit masochistic in how she handled being choked. A therian trait he had assumed due to their obvious nature of pursuing strength, but now hearing of her backstory maybe there's a reason for that.

But for now he needed to confirm. Yet she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"So then… Is that alright with you?", she suddenly inquired, her focus still on plucking the splinters from his body.

"Are you alright with… Filling up my empty hole?"

"Are you asking me to be your daddy?", Silas attempted a joke, influenced by the direction of the conversation. It was a semblance to how he used to act on Earth, before… But then he felt uneasy. His mouth twitched, and his frown resurfaced as a result.

"Hum… No, but rather… As… My pack leader? Or… Or something else? You've already bested me in, well…"

"Hm", Silas thought, but realized this would lead to his own question. So he decided to redirect the question to the long route, one that would fit his needs.

"Why did you lick me? Back then, that night"

"Hum… I had too many drinks probably, and you were bleeding, so I thought I'd clean you up", she plucked a splinter out with her claws, bringing it up to her face to examine it before flicking it away. She looked down for another.

Having healed small amounts until this time, it seemed the deepest splinters were pushed closer to the surface. It didn't need much probing on her behalf, most of them being pulled out easily with her assistance.

'And I remind her of her father… Clearly she has a daddy kink, but what I seek is confirmation, not clarification'

As such, Silas only furrowed his brows, questioning further.

"Then why did you strip?"

"I was tired, and we were going to sleep"

"But then we had sex"

"Well yeah, I mean you ordered me to…"

"No. No I didn't"

She looked up from her task, peering back into eyes that squinted back at her.

"You ordered to strip", she recounted.

"Then you pursued my body"

'You licked me then caressed my hand', he wanted to reply, but was that really enough to grope her in response? It didn't really matter, neither spoke out about the outcome.

"..."

And considering he didn't respond she shrugged, going back to her grooming. They remained like that in silence, until she sighed and brought up the question again in a different way.

"Did you leave me behind to let me rest? Thaite says you don't care, but I think you do care about us, secretly, just a lil' bit"

But Silas only sighed, lifting the other arm not being tended to and controlling his blood sphere once more, this time splitting off a small amount to test how much acceleration he needs before it launches forward out of his control. He tested this best by applying pressure on a solid object like a tree, lengthening the distance between, before it would finally launch forward instead of just pushing against it like his normal movement commands dictated.

"No, I left you here as bait in case something stronger than the wolves show up"

And all of a sudden, she seemed to flinch her claws back, pulling out a splinter roughly, causing Silas almost to wince in pain. He turned to face her with his normal stoic expression, while she stared back a little until she finally opened her mouth.

"But you-"

"Hah, huf, har… Guess who's back?", a dwarf appeared from the trees, a handful of Finger Root clasped firmly in his roughened hands.

The Finger Roots themselves appeared like giant thumbs, but in a sort of ginseng form, a leaf-like flower sprouting from each of the tips, from under what appeared like a fingernail. But even the nail was just a part of the root. The roots were covered in dirt which was fine considering they lived in it.

What wasn't fine was how bloody, sweaty and dirty the dwarf appeared, as if he had been rolling in a muddy patch like a pig.

"Argh, err, arghum", he coughed upon seeing how close Silas and Ferlein were.

"We err, encountered more of those twin tails", he swiped his body, both hands that each contained a number of Finger Roots pointing further into the forest.

"Did the others die?", Silas questioned, Ferlein's face growing into a mixture of concern.

"Nah, we dealt with 'em quickly, but more packs arrived. Thaite and Drom be holdin 'em back, I came back sooner to get things wrapped up here, and deliver these", he revealed the already obvious plants within his grasp.

"..."

"So… We gonna butcher that Carrigorn or what? I've heard its meat is quite chewy"