Unease

I walk away and lift my head to sniff. Sure enough, Thane had found water. I quickly make my way over to the water to find him washing his face. I step up next to him and stare out at the calm lake water before us. Once his face and hair are cleaned, he slowly stands up and lightly grabs my chin.

He turns my head to look at him but his eyes were on my lips. He frowns and looks up to my eyes as he says "It wasn't until I was halfway here that I realized I could taste your blood. I wanted to bite you but I didn't mean to draw blood. I'm sorry."

I chuckle and pull my chin out of his hand as I say "What kind of apology is that? I wanted to bite you, just not that hard. You underestimated your own strength?" He blinks at me in thought before nodding his head and saying "I didn't mean to draw blood."

I chuckle again before my smile quickly disappears. I slowly bend down and start washing my hands and arms. I cup the water from the lake and wash my face a few times before looking over to see Thane silently watching me.

I feel a bead of water drip from my jaw and down the front of my neck. Thane's eyes watch that bead of water intensely before it disappears. I pull out a blade from my boot and lift it up to my hand. Thane quickly reaches out and grabs my hand holding the blade with a look of confusion and worry.

I look into his eyes and softly say "It's black..." He frowns at me, his confusion growing. I bring my other hand up to the blade but Thane moves just as fast. He grabs my other hand and asks "What the hell are you trying to do!? Is this because I bit you?"

I give him a small smirk as I tilt my head to the side and say "You can bite me whenever you want. This has nothing to do with that... well, kinda. Trust me." He hesitates for a moment before releasing my hands. I bring the blade up and lightly cut my palm.

Black blood drips down my hand and onto the ground between us. I slowly look up to Thane and say again "It's black..." But this time it's barely above a whisper. His eyes darken as he looks from my hand to my eyes.

He takes the blade and cuts into his own palm to see the same exact thing. My eyes flutter shut as I take a deep breath and sigh. He remains silent as he tries to understand what this really means for us. I clench my teeth and take his hand with my own bloody hand.

I turn around and start walking as I use my powers to heal our hands. Did the toxic black blood from the Ghoul not hurt us because we have the same blood? Thane remains silent the whole walk back but when we finally make it back to the others, they're ready to go. The truck was pretty beat up but it was still running.

CheeChee smiles at me, waiting for praise. I smile at the little guy and pat his head as I say "Good job, CheeChee. Lead the way again. Thane and I are going to rest." CheeChee bares his wickedly sharp teeth at me in another smile before taking off.

Thane and I sit on the top of the truck as the rest of my family rides in the back. I keep my back to them as I watch CheeChee lead the way through the woods. My mind keeps trying to understand the black blood and what it means for us. Thane remains silent next to me but he keeps rubbing the hand he cut earlier.

It was now healed but I can tell he was bothered by the black blood. Hell, I was too. Maybe I shouldn't have told him? No, he would find out eventually and it's good this happens while with me. After about an hour or so, we finally come to a dirt path.

It grows wider and wider until it's as wide as four lanes. I hear the people behind me sucking in as the City Oasis comes into view almost like magic. It was extremely large in size but unlike our City, it's surrounded by nature and full of life.

As we pull up, guards step up to block the road with worried looks on their faces. There's a legend surrounding this City and why it's so hard to find. Only those who mean no harm can find the City of Oasis but I feel like that's only half true. It's not completely invisible to the outside world but it is indeed odd.

It almost feels as if the woods themselves protect the City Oasis and the people who live here. As the truck comes to a stop, I jump down. When I look up, the guard visibly relaxes as he says "I didn't think you'd come back!"

I give him a small smile as I say "I almost didn't." I turn to glance behind me before looking back to the guard named Todd and saying "I hope you have the room." Todd looks past me and smiles before looking back to me and saying "Of course! Fern and Hunter are going to be thrilled you're back. Fern's been heartbroken since you left."

I smile and nod at Todd before saying "Thank you. I'll introduce you to my family once everything settles down." He nods and steps back before waving the trucks forward. Thane steps up beside me as he looks up at the city with surprise.

I slip my hand into his as I say "Welcome to the Oasis. Where the real world exists." He looks to me with that same surprised look before looking back to the City with determination. As Thane and I step into the City, I see everyone from the trucks unloading.

Several people from the City come over to give everyone a hand and to welcome them but when I see someone running to me at full speed, I tell Thane "Incoming" as I release his hand. Thane looks over with a frown but doesn't understand.

Fern's bright red hair catches the light as her bright yellow eyes fill with tears. I open my arms wide as she runs straight into me and jumps. My whole family, including Thane, watch with shock as Fern wraps her arms and legs around me.

I hold her up with a small chuckle and hug her back. She wails at me and says something but I can't make it out over her crying. When I look up, I see Hunter walking up behind her with a knowing smile. His eyes are watery with emotions but before he could reach us, Thane steps forward and lifts a hand to block him.

Thane's a big guy but so is Hunter. Hunter's bright green eyes slide over Thane with unease. I quickly waddle over and lightly hit Thane a few times before saying "He's family." Valen scoffs and says "Then what the hell are we!?"

My Mom slaps him in the back of the head and earns a look of disapproval from our Dad. Valen rubs the back of his head with an exasperated look on his face. Fern finally lets me go and steps back to wipe her eyes.

Hunter moves quickly. He slides past Thane and scoops me up into a large hug. My feet dangle in the air as I hug him back and whisper "I told you it was real and I kept my promise. I came back." He chuckles and squeezes me tight as he says "Thank you."

A deep, dark growl causes everyone to freeze. Hunter shoves me and his sister behind him before turning to face Thane with a wicked blade he pulled out. I quickly step out from behind him and yell out "Time out! This is NOT what this looks like, Thane. Everybody needs to calm down."

Before I can say anything else, Thane pulls me to him and wraps a protective arm around me as he glares at Hunter and growls out "It looks pretty clear to me..."