A Strange Bastard

"Hey, Nio, can you come down for a second?"

"What for, I am very comfortable here!"

"I won't bother you much after that."

A moment later his head was down near Liam. He wasn't sure why he satisfied his request.

"Smell me!"

"Uhh, why? You smell discussing and filthy."

"Yeah, yeah, that's understandable, can you smell something else?"

"What else can there be?"

"Just try!"

Finally, Nio took him seriously and took a whiff. Then he stuck his tongue out to confirm as he smelled something impossible.

"Why do you have that smell on you?"

"Which one are you referring to, after all, you said I smelled discussing and all that,"

"Don't play that shit with me! Why do you have the smell of Black Menace on you?"

"Yeah, thought so. By the way, if that particular one comes back, don't do anything, pretend to sleep, or something like that, I want to know what it wants."

"You are stupid to think like that. But fine, I won't do anything unless It does."

"That's fine with me," he scratched his head, "But I have a feeling that it is friendly," he thought of the purring.

"You're delusional," Nio said as he was going back to his comfortable position upon that tree. "By the way, before, you said you had a request for me, what was it?" Nio then observed that Liam suddenly turned red and his heartbeat got louder.

"You might be offended by it and, well, I have multiple requests," Liam mumbled after a while.

"Why would I get offended?"

"Umm... ?"

"Spit it out!"

"I wanted a drop of your blood," he then did just that but was still hesitant to say it.

"That's not a problem."

"Some of your scales?"

"There is a pile of them back there," he then pointed to a certain direction with his tail.

"Really? Okay, I'll help myself then with the scales," then he stopped and asked another question. "Have you shed blood on the tree?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Has the tree given you its blood?"

"No! Where is this going and you said you'd leave me be," he asked and whined, "I liked the quiet before you appeared," he grumbled.

"It means that you are sitting on the wrong tree."

"Wrong tree? What do you mean by that?"

"Just that we should go find the tree that was meant for you."

After that, he left to find the scales Nio was talking about.

Nio looked at him, seriously considering his words. He hadn't ever thought about the tree. Can there be a tree or a place that is exactly right for him?

He had traveled the world but had never come across such a place. He had never even found one like the one he was on now.

The tree was wonderful. He had known that once he had laid his eyes on it but he didn't know how was it powerful. It hadn't witnessed anything from it until now. Well, some time ago when the three broke its branch and gave its sap to Liam. That was something new he hadn't ever seen before. The tree wasn't willing to give its sap to him, did it mean that he wasn't the right one for this tree.

Nio continued to ponder over the words that Liam had said.

Liam had come back some time ago and was cleaning the scales in the stream when Nio opened his mouth again.

"Why do you think that I am not the right one for this tree?"

"Because you are toxic, sharp, and slick but this tree is soft, willowy, and tender, but only looks like that. The tree is very strong and can make hard things look soft. The differences in just appearance are plain as day." he continued to wash the scales. He could tell that the scales had been there for quite some time, but they still looked and felt sturdy. There was a problem though, he didn't know how to handle it and how to make it into useful objects. He stacked the scales on the steam side and stripped to wash himself and his clothes.

Nio had been honest before, as he had drawn attention to it, he felt ashamed that he hadn't washed properly when there was a stream close by.

"Are you saying that there might be a tree somewhere that is just for me?"

"Yes," he answered in a matter a fact tone that didn't leave much room for argument.

If a snake could frown, he'd be doing that right now.

"How can you be sure, you just arrived here," the snake had a point and it made Liam freeze over for a moment before realizing he had revealed something he shouldn't have.

"Umm, ... just a guess," he said trying to avoid the subject.

"Hmph!" he grumbled, "A strange bastard you are."

Liam was naked at the time and Nio looked at the body of that strange being. His body had so many fading scars, some looked very old and a few looked fresh enough to still have scabs on them. His build wasn't bad. If put into comparison with the two-legged ones living on this planet, then he looked better than them. Not just the face, but the whole structure, his build, and how the muscles on his body had been developed.

Nio didn't know much about the two-legged ones around here but even he knew that Liam was in much better shape than the average people around here.

The night arrived and Liam went back to the forest. Nio noticed that it took him a long while to come back. He looked at his movement from his position and he didn't understand what he was doing. He was repeating his movement, many times he went back and forth in the same location. After a while, he started to follow a certain creature.

Nio looked but still couldn't wrap his head around what he was doing. An hour later he saw something for the first time. He hadn't seen a two-legged one do something like this before. He was surprised.

He had somehow gotten very close to the creature Liam was following and in the next moment it was dead. Liam was standing over it. If Nio had blinked at the time he would probably have missed the whole thing. He was very surprised that he could move like that. Something struck him odd, how come the creature didn't sense him? Nio could also sense him, but ...

He then remembered that Liam could gather energy. Can creatures without cultivation sense the ones that can increase their power? That would be normal, no! It would be instinctual. They should sense a strong being from a distance even if it was hiding or looked small. They would still consider him as a predator, not prey.

It was the first time he had that kind of thought. He never even thought of something like that as prey was just that, prey. But, whichever way he looked at it, he couldn't consider Liam as prey, to any creature.