Ch 2

The cool breeze pushed aside the flakes of familiarity with the world as the group traversed to the shallow parts of the forest. The trees seemed less condensed and thinner compared to the concentrated wilds that came with the unknown. The grass spoke softly as the group traveled quickly to the camp that was beyond the boarder of bramble bushes and the ominous marked trees that intertwined with them. Birds called one another to ogle the odd three; a mysterious female, white coated wolf, and a runt. All out of place figures in their home. But the large blur sat motionless in the trees as he watched the three tread farther away from the border.

"So, what do you like to eat? I like to snack on squirrels." Corwin excitedly started his interrogation into the newest member of the pack. She rode on top of Milori, the eldest out of the three wolves.

"I like eating...birds, like chicken or turkey. I also like eating pork, which is kind of funny that Milori caught a boar," Miloris ears twitched as he listened to the young female. "I also like fruits and other plants, like mangoes, limes, plantains, and okra."

"Ohkrah....what a funny name. What's that? What does it taste like?"

"It's a green fruit that's long and tube like, which ends with a point. It tastes like a grassy green bean. My family actually likes to pickle the ones we grow in the green..." Avery bit her tongue as she thought about the green house. It was her pride and joy that small building, filled with precious memories of escapism.

"Green what? Also what's pickling?"

"Pickling..." Avery's voice trailed off as she thought of the pain staking process she had to sit through. "Pickling is a process used to preserve food. My family used a salt brine but I know others use vinegar."

"Wow! That's so cool! You're saying you can preserve food in watery stuff. I thought you had to dry it out though to make jerky....Liam's jerky." A chill went down Corwins spine.

"You're saying your people have another preservation method for food? How interesting. I haven't heard of something like that though my travels," Milori commented as his mind continued to wonder more about this female whom has powerfully influential knowledge. Though part of him became wary at her scent and mind. "Are you a part of the bird clan by any chance? I know they have extensive knowledge and advanced technology."

"No, I'm human." Avery hummed absently which caused a sudden change in demeanor from the two wolves.

"You're what?" Corwins voice sounded cold. "Don't even joke about that, it's wrong to say that!"

"What?"

"What? What!? What do you mean what? Do you even know what that means!?" Corwin suddenly got aggressive and ancy while Milori's pace slowed. "Don't call yourself such a malicious creature! You're not demon!"

"D-demon? Is that what it means-" Averys voice suddenly became shaky at this sudden change in character. Part of her couldn't help but finish the sentence quietly in the back of her head.

'to you?'

"But...I've been told that my whole life! What am I but that?" Avery couldn't wrap her head around it.

"You're a beastmen! Not a monster..." Corwins tone sounded softer as the second statement past his lips.

"How could they be cruel to you as well?" Milori whispered to himself which Corwin caught and began to soften a bit more.

"It's already a lot to be...now...you're not evil." Corwin muttered to himself.

Milori allowed Avery to slide off his back as she anxiously started to fidget with her hands. Her rump skipped against the ground gently before ethe looked between the two as Milori suddenly turned around to face her. His eyes where serious as their light blue hue starred at her passionately.

'Shit went to a hundred so fast-! Pl-please don't kill me!'

Avery pleaded in her head as she flinched away from the wolf.

"You are a bird beastmen. Maybe they didn't treat you as such but you are a person," Milori said firmly before softening his voice. He transformed into his beastmen form. His calloused hands went to pick up the confused and stressed out girl whom looked as though she was about to cry. "You are a female. A precious thing to the world. You aren't a monster. You are not a demon."

Milori's heart stung as he thought of his own life so far. How he was a freak to his own village. He thought about Corwin and how he suffered for being a runt of his litter and how Liam suffered due to his half-and-half birth.

'You are like Corwin, Liam, and I; an outcast it seems. But to us you would never be such a thing.'

Avery couldn't help but get teary eyed at his words while her heart palpitates in fear.

'That is both sweet and terrifying at the same time. I'm a monster, because I'm human? What the hell did humans do to get this rep?'

It was quiet, very quiet. The birds sat by anxiously while the drama unfolded. The trees held their breaths as though the slightest breeze would cause a war to break. Avery watched the two carefully as she thought about what she would say.

"Y-You mentioned traveling a lot Milori, have you ever met a human?" Avery carefully lifted her head higher and swallowed the fear in her throat.

"No I haven't, but they are still quite dangerous." Milori answered as he carefully held the girl in his arms, mindful of her swollen ankle.

"W-What do you think they are like? I mean look like?"

Milori was quiet for another moment as he walked through the forest with the girl in his arms while Corwin fallowed behind. He could feel her soft shaking breaths as her trembling tickled his skin. Her anxious eyes watched him as her hand held onto his forearm.

'She really doesn't know.' His thoughts sadly concluded as anger raged over the fact she was never entertained by the stories her village should have told.

"Humans are cold hearted creatures," Milori started. "More so than those of reptiles and fish beastmen. They are usually tall and thin, with blackened skin and glowing eyes. Claws are the only other feature they have; no horns, no wings, no tail, and only two legs and two eyes. Their fur is thick and covered in a tar like stench while moving through the forest. They are malicious to all that breathes on Gaia, especially beastmen like you and I."

Avery gulped again as her quivers became more noticable. "O-Oh...so are their any human 'villages' near by?"

Milori shook his head reassuringly. "No, none have been found in recent history. They are most likely in hiding. but rest assured if they are ever found, even if it's just one, then they will be killed." Milori rubbed soft circles on Avery's back while her breath caught itself.

"O-Oh...great...they sound...terrifying."

'Why of all places was I here? Was it because I wished to be somewhere else all those years ago? But things got better...he has got better...we all have gotten better...why now?

For once I was happy.

Now it was ruined.'

The fire crackled gingerly as the meat above dripped it's fats. The secluded area was hidden behind long flowing branches of willow that had started to develop buds. The sweet chard smell of food lingered in the air. A cave mouth cracked a smile on the side of a rocky mountains slope that suddenly began to blend with the earth fifteen feet before the fire. The sky cased shadows between bare branches as the forest lost interest on what they where observing. A young man sat near the cave mouth where animal skins were being tied to racks, tanning them till they where stiff.

His raven locks cured in on themselves towards the face of the young man, giving him a sharp look. His eyes were a deep shade of sable that had almost swallowed the night while three moles rested under each of his eyes. Ears the shade of his hair sat on top scarred and chipped as though he had been in a ferocious conflict. His skin was a shades darker than Corwin's and resembled someone of Polynesian decent. His left peck wore a greyed scar aged and worn through the years and complemented through the other, smaller scars along his arms and legs. His tail was scruffy and wild, matching the curls on his head. If one hadn't known they would have assumed that this man was the eldest of all three wolves. Though unlike the other he wore garbs to cover his groin.

"Oh Liam...you shouldn't have..." Corwin spoke slowly as he saw the roasting spit and Liam; a bad combination.

Liam, the scarred male, grimaced as he slowly turned his head to see the now-sick-looking wolf.

"You smell weird. What did you roll around in this time?" Liam grumbled as he felt a migraine forming.

"I-I didn't roll in anything!" Corwin defend himself as he shifted into his beastmen form. "I would never do something so...so pup like!" Corwin poked a finger into Liam's chest.

Liam took in another scent in the air as he sensed Milori coming closer. It was a soft, airy note that caused a chill run up his spine.

The male turned around to eye the origin of the smell. There he found a girl entrapped in Milori's arms, notably a combination of flustered and uncomfortable. Her cornflower eyes were cool as the gentle breeze in the air while her long brown locks where wild and entangled an array of stray debris while red dots decorated her face. Her clothes where alien like due to how they covered her body completely but fit against her as though it was her skin. Never before has he seen such rich blues that came from her lower...skirt? What the hell was it? Then there was her puzzling top. It was grey and looked as though it wasn't even made from animal skins, though he had never seen a plant fiber capable of being worn in such a fashion. The most puzzling was the fact he saw the night itself though holes in the grey top which was impossible to understand. Her feet as well where disfigured, what the hell are those bulky things? They look so...strange, what is that string coming off of them? Are they made from leather? So many questions left unanswered as he looked at the dirty girl, though he was just happy that she wasn't whining over her discomfort.

"Where are the others?" Liam questioned as he tried to smell for any spousal marks on the girl.

"There is no one else, she is alone." Milori answered unblinking as he softly held he girl in his arms. Avery on the other hand was ogling the sight, but feeling ashamed of herself when she caught herself doing so.

Milori had other plans as he walked straight to the cave without looking back. Carefully he laid Avery down on a nest of furs in the center of the cave that housed many different pelts, herbs, and weapons. Milori plucked dried healing herbs that help with open wounds. For her ankle injury...there was little he could do but wrap it and pray that it heals. He could try pressing one of the cold stones in that cave against the injury to help relieve some discomfort.

With all that he needs in hand he made his way back to Avery whom was focused on the food cooking over the fire. With a slight grimace Milori kneeled beside her and tried to prepare her for the treatment. Knowing how females can be sensitive to pain it wasn't a secret that treating them can get..loud...

"Avery this might hurt...but I promise I'll be careful..."

There where a few winces here and there but the process went smoothly. It wasn't until Milori moved to treating Avery's ankle that the trouble started. Shed kick, not intentionally, but on reflex for the slightest pressure on the injury right at that moment caused her to hiss between her teeth.

"I'm sorry, please bare with it for a little longer..." Milori calmly pleaded. Avery nodded her head but couldn't help but with she had some Aleve or Advil.

At the end of it all her leg was wrapped in a large leathery leaf that seemed freshly plucked and wildly out of place due to it resembling a banana leaf. But the leaf in question was durable and took quite a lot of effort to pierce and stitch around into a brace. Unfortunately she couldn't put weight on that leg and relied on Milori to help her hobble around. Corwin had come into the cave not long after she started getting used to moving around with a large leaf in hand.

The smell of dry charcoal filled the air as Corwin scrunched up his face to hold in a sneeze. "Here Avery, this is some of the meat Liam was cooking..." The male emphasized the ravenette's name as he fixed his face into a friendlier expression.

I looked over at him as Milori helped me sit down on the pile of furs again. Corwin began to blush as he kneeled down and almost presented the meal to me. "But if you don't like it I can cook something else!" Nerves caused Corwins ears to twitch subtly while his tail flicked about in an ancy manner.

"Thank you Corwin-" I thanked him with a smile as I reached for the leaf but it was quickly swiped away.

"W-would it be alright if I feed you? You're hurt and the food is hot! You would get burned if you're not careful!" Corwin couldn't help but get a bit pushy.

Milori then turned to me calmly and asked if I wanted him to cut the meat up so it would be easier to handle.

"I-I would like that, thank you." I thanked him with a smile. Milori froze for a moment before nodding his head. Corwin on the other hand was still a bit dazed. When he came to Corwin held a wide goofy smile.

"Is there anything else we can get you? Do you want any fruit? I can find fruit! Or grubs? I can dig some up! Oh how about-" This rambling continued to the outside of the cave as Milori dragged him away.

Milori then came back with the leaf in hand, with sliced meat replacing the chunk of chard flesh that use to sit there. In the other hand was his own helping. Milori carefully handed me my helping as he sat down to eat his own. I chewed slowly as my eyes started to water. The meat was crunchy and dry, and no distinct flavor of seasonings could be tasted. But it was food and I was more than happy to eat even if my stomach wanted to reel I won't let it. One bite after another eventually led me to more tender meat underneath the chard pile but it was cold and bloody.

Corwin joined us soon after I was halfway through my helping carrying his own food. Liam had only poked his head in to glare at the other two before scowling at me. Nervously I looked to the side as to avoid his gaze as I grabbed some more of the meat to eat.

Liam's scowl lightened as he saw Avery, the strange foreign girl, eating what he had cooked without complaint.

'Strange. This is usually the part where they whine.' He thought to himself as he looked at the girl curiously. He could admit to himself that his cooking wasn't the best, he was fully aware of that and then some. He was better at activities that involved him using his ingenuity or fighting. A small part of him delighted at the sight of her eating well. The other two where also eating but more so due to being use to his cooking, begrudgingly at that. Maybe he should cook again instead of Milori for tomorrows breakfast. Maybe...

A little after ducking away Liam came back to the cave with his own helping of food. He sat a bit away from Avery, not wanting to get too close and going to stay closer to the tanning furs that he had set up earlier. Today was eventful. Setting up camp, collecting and tanning furs, cooking, and finding a strange female, hell, maybe it would end on a good note for once.

Everyone was content in eating and slowly prepared themselves for bed. Liam collected their 'plates' and took to the river to clean the rare plant leaf, usually only found by the bird beastmens territory in the tropics.

Milori brought over a water base for everyone to wash their hands and face before tucking Avery in. Corwin curled into a ball as a wolf as he laid close to Avery. Milori did something similar but instead just laid down normally with a content sigh. Avery was a bit nerve struck at the two suddenly being wolves again but relished in the realization that she would no longer have to awkwardly avoid the twos nether regions that where on full display.

The night there after was peaceful as the two crescent moons in the sky formed a frown. She was not their child nor was she of any other.

Who is this grain of sand? She reflects such hues of color that it is hard to dismiss. Is she a pure human? How? Who broke the gods will?