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((Sorry everyone, a reply is coming. I know it's late. I've been busy and then last night I was bitten by a spider. Just my luck, eh? Lol. Anyway, a reply will be on it's way to this space as soon as I can. It's in Microsoft Word and I'm working on it Okay, here it is!)).

Large Forest Village – The Dancing Fawn Inn

He smiled back at her kindly, “It’s okay, you don’t have to apologise, you’ve done nothing wrong.” He looked down at the plate in front of him, pushing around some food with his fork, “I just don’t like to see you sad. That’s all. Try to forget about those mean, horrible people who did that to you. You’re safe here now. And…and…I’m sure the chef would love to hear that you like his cooking so much. I’ll pass on your compliments if you like”

He smiled up at her again, a flush of colour evident on his face. He hoped he wasn’t saying anything that sounded too foolish. His tone became quieter again. “Miss Misty, I’ll help you out so please don’t fret. I’m sure you can meet some new friends and find a better life here than where you were before. I’ll…I…” he stuttered, turning redder as he almost became too tongue tied to say what he meant; “I’ll make sure of it!” So saying, he banged his fork on the table for emphasis, sending a tomato bouncing off the end to go rolling.

Riven looked surprised when she left her seat again to come talk to him. His ear twitched cutely as she whispered into it, something she’d done a lot this evening for reasons he couldn’t gather. It’s not like anyone was listening, right?

“Uh-huh” was his rather stunned response to her first words, listening to what she said next. She wanted to be a part of his family? She liked him?

Riven beamed a thousand-watt smile that could have lit up the whole room, leaning back from her with a look as though she had just offered him a million gold. ‘What? Really, really? You really mean that for real?” He gasped. He could hardly believe it. His hands went out and he grabbed hers in his own, holding them in a friendly embrace and shaking them up and down.

“Miss Misty, I’d love to welcome you as a part of my family. I’m honoured you asked me. I’ll show you the way back to my house after we finish here. You don’t need to look for a new home in the village” he shook his head as he spoke about that. “Nope. I even know of a spare room for you” He was just so happy. He was also known for being spontaneous and getting carried away but there was no one there to stop him right now.

***

Large Forest Village – Kilcarn’s House

Kilcarn placed his now empty tea cup aside on the tray in front of them and folded his hands upon his lap in tranquil manner as he digested the part about Midnight and her mate being omnivores. “Forgive me, I had assumed too much about your kind. It would be less strain on my people to provide an omnivorous diet so I am glad to hear it is possible. I would, however, like to offer you some nutritional supplements to rebuild your vitamin levels and overall health after being malnourished for so long,” he added considerately, knowing full well how most captives were treated.

The wind chime hanging in the window tinkled in the breeze while they talked, adding to the feeling of peace and relaxation.

“I see that M’rala has already provided some supplies. She should be happy to give you what you need if you ask her for more. I’ll provide you with some tokens so you do not have to worry about paying for them”

Watching her get comfortable, he listened to her description of Morning, taking a mental image and storing the information to relay to his sentries at a later point. From the sounds of it, this person would be clearly identifiable.

A slightly amused look crossed his face when she continued on to explain about triggers that caused their were-forms to manifest but he took note of those she had listed, knowing this information would be vital for keeping the peace. “Very intriguing, I thank you for divulging this information so freely,” Kilcarn smiled softly, awaiting the completion of whatever she was drawing.

“I will let my tribe kin know so that both you and they shall be able to live here in safety and hopefully without mishap. Though, I pray it will not bother you that there will be a guard assigned to keep watch over you wherever you happen to be in the village. It is both as protection for you and for us but also because if I do not do this, the villagers may not feel comfortable with you in such close quarters. This guard will be invisible for the most part and will have instructions to be as unobtrusive as possible. You can choose to think of them as your personal escort”.

He paused to give her time to hear his words and also to finish her sketches. There were only two more things he wanted to ask her.

***

Outskirts of the Large Forest

Morning stopped in his tracks and regarded the squirrel-type, idly brushing off leaves and a bug or two which had gotten onto his person. There were no tracks in the forest. He was simply barrelling through native flora with abandon, following his instincts.

“Oh. Hey.” He raised a hand in greeting, scratching an itch on his arm shortly afterwards. “Just wanderin' around, lookin' for a tribe somewhere in this forest. You live here? Maybe you can help me out”. He stepped closer to the other man, motioning someone’s height with his right hand, “Lookin for someone about ‘this’ tall and super beautiful”.

(So is the idea of midnight and fer de lance running into each othet as they escaped no longer valid? Just making sure before I post)

((Yeah. But we were considering doing flashbacks for his escape but just wanted to make sure.))

I think we can disergard that bit if you want to. It was a while back and I really can't remember what I was saying then. Just make stuff up. Lol. Maybe he saw Midnight escaping and decided to head a different way, or maybe he stayed in the tree tops and followed after her, then changed direction and spied on a couple of different tribes.

In any case, he would have had to discover the Experiments tribe somehow, or maybe they found him. That might be how he found out which tribe he belonged to).

"Sounds fair enough." Midnight said, nodding in agreement to Kilcarn's newest terms.

Midnight hung her head in shame upon facing Kilcarn's last question. She knew it to be the most dire and important but unfortunently due to her pregnant condition her cell had been separate from the others, so she was easily on hand and available for testing.

"Unfortunently, I do not have any such information. Due to my pregnancy, I was kept separate from the other prisoners and had basically no interaction with them." Midnight returned, "By time I'd broken out of my cell and made my way to the surface of the compound, all hell had already broken loose. I didn't know how long it'd been like that or how long it would take for them to regain control so truthfully I was more focused on escaping than looking around. However should we find my mate, he might have a different tale to spin..."

When she had finished speaking, he regarded her silently, his chin resting upon slender, interlaced fingers, the breeze toying with strands of hair and feathers. His clear gaze almost seemed to be trying to read her soul. But after a moment he seemed to relax, sighing softly and leaning back, lowering his hands. He rose gracefully to his feet, preparing to leave. “I see. Thank you for your time. You may go whenever you are ready. For now, I have another meeting to attend”.

He started walking away as servants came in to clear away the tea and file the drawings. Just before exiting the room, he paused, “If there is anything else you need, please pass your requests on to Bess. She will help you find a place to stay. Oh, and should she depart on a mission, wait until she returns. There’s one tomorrow afternoon. I wish you both a pleasant evening”. With that, he left. The room seemed to grow still and become a little less airy.

“Well, ahh, glad that’s over with” Bess straightened, stretching her arms above her head and getting to her feet. “He made it short this time. That was nice of him. Heh” she smiled, going to help Midnight to her feet. “Something’s got him in plotting mode though. I wonder what he’s up to. It’s probably a meeting with the other tribe leaders. So, now that your brains have been picked, shall we go house hunting?” she grinned, “I have a place in mind”.

***



Riven wished he could sink into a hole in the ground and be forgotten. He wanted to turn back the clock and rewind the last few happenings. He sat up slowly without looking at anyone, keeping his eyes on the floor, a potted plant, or his feet. His woolly ears were almost pink, he was blushing so hard. Maybe he shouldn’t have spoken so loudly.

He took in what Misty whispered to him and tried to understand her reasons for leaping to such a conclusion. This girl, hadn’t she ever heard of siblings, friends, or cousins? It didn’t mean that they were together as a couple just because of living in the same house. Maybe she had been an only child. But for whatever reasons, she certainly had caught him off guard. He’d been thinking of her as a new friend, a tribe sister.

But still, it hurt when he heard her apologise, trying to explain to them. Riven felt sudden guilt and sadness for causing a scene for her in front of half the village. He was sorry. She...she thought he was rejecting her? Was he? He didn’t know quite frankly, it was just a knee-jerk reaction. He wasn’t ready for a wedding proposal.

But her trying to explain what was happening was definitely making things worse. “No…wait” holding a hand out, he found his voice, so small and quiet that he wasn’t sure she’d hear him. “I…I didn’t mean. I don’t think they were laughing at that. It’s more that I fell over and caused a commotion, you don’t have to say…” he could hear the whispers and comments and they cut him off.

“Oh my, how embarrassing”

“Oh dear”

“Why is she explaining it to us?”

Falling silent, Riven grabbed her hand.

“Misty. Come on. I’ll pay for the meal and let’s go. I’ll show you the way to my house. We can talk when we get there”.

His eyes still on the floor, he tugged her over to the counter and quickly paid for their orders, getting the left overs in a take away box in a bag.

He wanted to leave as soon as they could. Still, the damage had already been done. The village’s rumour mill would be going into overdrive.

Outskirts of Large Forest

Fer De Lance shook his head. "Sorry mate but ye cannae be more specific? She could be anything but Id suggest getting away from this place. We're awfully close to bug territry which is nae the place ye want ta be."

He smirked and bounded into the tree. A few minutes later he dropped to the floor with a burlap bag fashioned into a back pack. "Well how's about we get o' the road?"

(Morning and co. will be moved to another thread soon. Depends which tribe they end up in)

“Nah, can’t go givin too much away, someone might try to steal her from me” he smirked with a wink and then relented. “Well, she’s a were-bear if you must know but she also has a human form; long dark hair down past her waist, curvaceous body and some mean fashion sense with tattoos and talismans. She likes to dress lightly, like me”

Morning stretched slowly and yawned, not in any great hurry. “Bugs, huh? Blurgh! I bet those are a freaky bunch” he raised an eyebrow, images of hairy legs and giant eyes popping into his mind.

He watched the half-squirrel bound up into the trees again and return with a rough looking hemp pack a few minutes later.

“Yeahhh…” Morning drawled, blowing air through his bangs at the suggestion to get on the road, “I prefer to make ma own roads. I spoke to old Rhino-face or whatever he’s called in one of the other hoofed tribes and he told me there’s a branch or whatever around here.” He pointed to the ground, indicating the forest they were standing in. “I know she’s with the hoofies. Just dunno which group”.

“Oi, I heard that comment earlier. Who are you calling freaky?”

A somewhat husky, light female voice broke into their conversation, followed by the appearance of the woman who went with it.

First to catch their eyes would be the bright sky blue colouring that graded into different shades, second, a large stinger tail hovering over her shoulder and the very noticeable insectoid arm with a claw on the end where a hand would normally be. Third, her sporty spiked hairstyle and the glitter of triple diamantes in her pointed ears. And fourth, the easy grin she displayed that made her eyes sparkle. “Geeze, people always get the wrong idea about us”.

Morning stared openly at the woman, unable to hide his curiosity, "Hey.." he remarked to Fer de Lance, "Squirrely...is that one of them bug people you were talking about?" he pointed at Nikola, who was now giving him an unhappy glare.



((Oh, sorry. I didn’t make that very clear. He didn’t pull her over a counter top. He pulled her over TO a counter (to pay for the meals), n.n My mistake. I was tired when I wrote that entry.))

Riven had simply let her talk and nodded tiredly. He had gotten sleepy on the walk back to his house as the adventures of the day caught up to him so he hadn't said much else except to show her around and then to the room where she would be staying.

***

The chirping of birds and the light breeze flapping the curtains awoke Riven the next morning. He sat up and yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Looking down at himself, he noticed he was still wearing all the camoflage clothes from the previous day. "Guess...I'll take a shower" he mumbled, getting to his feet and wobbling across to his closet to pick out some simple clothes. He gathered the items in his arms and wandered into the hallway, rubbing his eyes. "Sleepy..."

He had completely forgotten that the room across the hall, his brother's room, had a new occupant. Misty the centaur that had been found and brought back to stay with the hoofed tribe.