Ropur stilled a moment and nodded. "Hunter. Yes."
"Yes." He ate more, watching Ropur carefully. Fascinating. Really. "So you know now the things that happen then?"
Ropur nodded, eating more slowly once the meat was gone, chewing the bread and cheese carefully. "I am of two bodies, but only one mind."
Fascinating. "You are the first thing that I have hunted that I have not killed."
Ropur blinked and shifted almost imperceptibly, inching a little bit away from him. "Thank you?"
He did not know why he said that, but he felt he had to let Ropur know. "I... there is more meat."
"I am fine," murmured Ropur, but those eyes had moved to his pack, nostrils flaring.
There was always meat. He never went hungry for that. So Darien got up and got more, handing it to Ropur wordlessly.
Ropur nodded. "Thank you." He then tore into it with the same hunger he had originally shown. Once it was gone, Ropur going as far as to lick his fingers, tongue sliding on them, a soft, rumbling sound accompanying the cleaning, Ropur smiled softly.
"I missed my hunt this past night."
"Better?" Sipping a bit of water, Darien looked about, automatically cataloguing the sounds and sights of the jungle. Most of the creatures that lived there were nocturnal, so they were in no danger, but he was always on his guard. "Why do you bother the villagers?"
Ropur sighed and shook his head. "I did not mean to bother them. I was merely... alone." Ropur curled his arms around his legs. "I wished... hoped."
"Hoped that they would accept you?" His lips curved in a bitter smile. "They are simple people. They will never accept what they do not understand."
"They are not the only ones," murmured Ropur, voice bitter.
Oh ho. He heard much in that simple statement. "You had people once."
"I had a clan. We were part of a tribe. I was different. I left."
He nodded, pretending that he understood. He didn't, not really. Darien had never belonged anywhere. "It makes you crave the company of others."
"Until the change came upon me several years ago, I was never alone."
That he could not fathom. To never be alone... he had been so since his voice changed, his mentor leaving him in the middle of one cold, dark night. He played with the feathered end of one arrow shaft idly, trying to wrap his mind about the idea.
"We are considered cubs until we reach our 18th summer when we go through the change. I changed differently."
"Differently?" Amazed at the young one's candor, Darien shifted to a more comfortable spot, eyes heavy now that he could relax. "How?"
It seemed as if once he had started talking, Ropur could not stop and Darien wondered how long he had been alone. "My tribe can change at will. It is the way of things. But I cannot change when I wish to, it is only the sun's rays that make me human." Ropur's eyes reflected that sunlight, shining as they watched him. "They tried to find a solution, but in the end my differences forced me to leave."
Darien nodded. "I was born under the sign of the hunter. They say..." He could remember his mentor, Gralien, shaking his graying head and spitting on the ground when he said it. "They say that people such as I are a danger to a tribe, and as soon as we are done suckling, they send us away."
"So you also are alone." He couldn't be sure, but he thought maybe Ropur had moved back a little closer.
"I have been alone all my life. Even before he left." Why this creature brought answers from him like water he did not know. Perhaps they were alike. Somehow.
"Who left you?" Ropur asked him and this time he was sure there was a tiny movement forward.
Looking away, Darien began identifying plants, here the velvet leafed phylia, there the waxy pliophea. "They say he was my uncle, but he seemed... old."
"Who do you think he was?" Ropur asked, slipping his hands into the arms of the borrowed tunic.
"A hunter. A ghost." He shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. "We are safe here. We should rest. I will have to go to the village at sundown, tell them I killed you or they will burn the jungle."
A shiver went through Ropur and the youth looked over his shoulder as if expecting to see the villagers with their torches right behind him. "I will change again when the sun goes down."
"Will you stay here? Out of sight?" He did not wish Ropur to leave, though he should. Darien should make him leave now.
"And if I do? Will you return and kill me?" Ropur looked right into his eyes.
"No." He would not. He only hunted men who were evil, and every sense told him Ropur was not. "You have my word as a Hunter."
"Then this night I will stay, hidden, until your return. And I will stay now and trust that I will not be taken to the village to be shown as a trophy, a freak when the sun goes down."
Darien held out his hand. "Yes. My word."
Ropur's hand slid into his. "I believe you."
It was entirely possible that he was making the biggest mistake of his life. But as Darien held that soft, mottled hand in his, he decided to believe instead that there was a deeper reason that they had found each other.
And perhaps believe in hope.
***
The man had left just before sundown and for that Ropur was grateful. The change was hard, ugly and painful, so different from the smooth, even transition he'd witnessed again and again and again among his tribe.
He slunk into the jungle, climbing a tree some way in to wait and see if the man would return. He wasn't even sure why he was waiting, why he didn't just run, disappear. His animal instincts nearly had him doing exactly that more than once in the hours he waited, but he stayed. There was nowhere to go really and something about this man who was so alone like him, intrigued him.
A sound had his ears twitching, nostrils flaring to pick up a scent.
It was the man.
He leapt down from the tree and waited.
The man came into the small clearing, looking right at him, seeming unafraid. In fact, Darien walked right up to him, kneeling before him.
"They think you are dead now."
He purred, nose nudging the man in a thank you.
"We should get your things, if you have any. Can you take me there?" The man was pale in the night, compared to him, despite the brown skin he'd seen in the day. The dark hair, in one long braid, seemed even darker in comparison as Darien bent to stroke his ears.
He twitched them, and backed away, he was so unused to being touched anymore, especially by humans.
He started off toward the shelter where there were clothes for his human form, food.
Mmmm, food. He growled. A second night where he had not hunted. He would need to find fresh meat tomorrow night.
Stopping, he turned to see if the man followed. The man was there, keeping up with him easily. Of course, if he left the man behind, Darien could probably track him, as he had the night before. It made him growl. Never had he met such a good hunter. His animal instincts told him this was a bad idea, but he pushed on, fighting the urge to run or to turn and tear the man's throat out.
When they got to his hiding place, the man looked about and nodded, approval in his voice and on his face. "This is a good place. But we must keep moving."
He went over to where his things were wrapped in a cloth. There wasn't much, some clothes, fruit and his talisman. He looked back at the man. He would be happy to move on with Darien, but he could not carry his things in this form.
Darien nodded again, came to pick up his small pack, strapping it to the harness on his back that carried bow and arrows and food. "We should cross the river and go further into the jungle. As far as we can go before daylight."
He purred his agreement and walked back out, brushing against Darien, tail curling for a moment around the man’s thigh.
When he looked back, Darien was standing there, watching him. At his low growl the man shook himself and followed, coming to walk close at his side.
It grated, walking slowly. They could be so much further by
sun up if they ran. He raised his head and growled before increasing his pace to a lope. He could hear the man behind him, feet pattering lightly on the jungle floor. He listened closely as they ran, but Darien's breaths stayed light and easy.
He increased his pace, moving so easily, testing Darien.
Darien kept up with him, running smoothly, feet hitting the earth in long, measured strides.
He stretched his own legs out, not running full out, but using his whole body, feeling the heat in his muscles. It was pleasurable to run like this without being chased. It was ironic he ran tonight with the same man as the night before.
Surely that was not a laugh he heard? But it was, a happy, free sound as Darien ran with him, falling behind only slightly and staying right on his haunches. It felt good, to run with someone, a feeling he had not enjoyed since he left his clan.
He slowed just a touch, finding a pace he could keep for a long time. He wondered how long they would run for, but assumed it was most of the night so that they might put ground between themselves and the villagers.
They ran until the moon was high, shining down through the tall jungle trees and low hanging branches, when suddenly a sharp whistle split the air, and Darien stopped. Growling low he stopped and circled back toward Darien. He stopped some feet away from the man.
Darien was breathing a little more heavily than before, but still did not sound winded. Still, the man began to walk in circles, cooling down. "I need water, Ropur. And food."
He growled softly. He would like to hunt. He moved forward and touched his nose to Darien's leg in acknowledgement and then he took off, nose in the air, hunting down the scent of his dinner. The man did not call after him, or come after him, so he must have understood.
He found a den of rabbits, killing four and eating three. The fourth he carried back to where the man was, laying it at Darien's feet. He growled softly. He could share.
"Oh." Darien looked up at him, eyes glinting in the dark. "Thank you, Ropur. I will strip it and I can dry it tomorrow when we stop."
He growled, lips curling. Meat was meant to be eaten fresh.
Darien laughed, reached out to stroke his head. "I am sorry, Ropur, but I am afraid that would make me sick."
He snorted and sat a little way away from Darien, began to groom.
Humans. He'd have nothing for the race if it weren't that he was one half the time himself.
The man went to the small stream that ran near the clearing to clean his catch. Darien had good instincts, he had to admit. Their resting site was perfect.
He watched, seeing easily in the moonlight, grooming. It had been a long time since he'd had a chance to do this. It was strange to do it with another after nine cycles on his own, but he could grow quickly used to the companionship that the hunter offered. He was not sure that was a good thing.
Quickly stripping the rabbit, Darien wrapped it and tucked it away, moving upstream a few feet the wash his hands and then drink. Then Darien stood, hands on hips, surveying the jungle. "We should move on."
Ropur stood and stretched, feeling good, his muscles working well, food in his belly, the hunter at his side instead of hunting him. He waited for Darien to go ahead, to choose their direction.
As if scenting the wind, Darien tilted his head back, nose in the air. Then he nodded, taking up his pack and heading off at a light run. Ropur followed, lopping easily next to Darien.
He cared not where they were going, having put his trust in Darien.
***
Darien found them a good place to camp for the day. It had a small pool of water that was not stagnant, huge trees for shade, and a large basket between tree roots for him to make their beds. What amazed Darien was how easy it had been for him to look for a campsite for two instead of one, and how he had taken Ropur's unique nature into account when he did. He was a loner. Wasn't he?
Groaning, Darien dropped his pack on the ground and stretched. The extra weight of Ropur's possessions had not been much, but it had been enough to throw the balance of his normally perfectly even pack off just so. And to give him blisters.
Just before dawn Ropur touched his muzzle to Darien's leg and then loped off, disappearing only to reappear several moments later as the comely youth he'd met the night before. Ropur opened the material that held his things and took out a tunic and leggings, slipping them on silently.
Darien was sorry to see that fine form covered, but he said not a word, just made them a small pit fire so he could roast rabbit meat and vegetables. Ropur crouched close to the fire, the strange eyes watching him.
He set some of the meat aside on a few large leaves, letting it have only residual heat so it would dry more quickly. The rest he pushed into a packet of more leaves with some dried herbs and stuck into the coals.
"I do not usually eat when I am like this," murmured Ropur.
Sitting back on his heels, Darien wiped sweat from his brow. "I am always like this. And a man must eat more often than a cat."
Ropur nodded. "It is a most inefficient form."
"I suppose. I find it useful to have thumbs." He wiggled them. "I am going to wash the stink of the day off."
Ropur raised his head, nostrils flaring. "Stink?"
"I smell." He grinned, not even lifting his arms, for that? Was nasty. "And not sweetly, either."
Ropur shrugged. "You smell human."
"Yes. I suppose I do." So much for polite conversation. He went to the pool and dipped out water with his hands, sluicing it over his chest.
Ropur appeared suddenly next to him, having walked soundlessly. "The water smells fresh."
"It is. There is a small stream." He splashed more of the cool water up, loving the silky feel of it.
Ropur moved downstream a little and bent to drink, wild curls dipping into the water. Even as a man, Ropur drank like a cat, delicately. Darien watched surreptitiously, trying not to be obvious and make Ropur nervous. The pink tongue came out often, licking at Ropur's lips.
Darien sighed, standing and stretching again, turning, trying to see the blisters on his side and back so he could tend to them. He could not turn far enough, however, and he blew out a frustrated breath.
Ropur returned to his side. "Are you good?"
"I think I have some blisters. Could you look at them?"
Ropur tugged at his shirt, pulling it off gently. "Oh... sore."
"Yes. I was afraid of that." He sighed, motioning to his pack. "I have a cloth there. They need washing, if you will help."
"A cloth?" Ropur shook his head. "I will help." Then that pink tongue licked at his skin, soft and hot.
Darien jumped, practically a good arm's length into the air. "I am not sure your saliva will work as well in this form." His voice was unsteady, but not so much that he felt it showed.
"Oh." Ropur frowned. "I would not know. You prefer the cloth?"
Did he? No, not at all. Should he? "We can try this."
"It would be easier if you sat -- you are taller than me." Soft hands held his hips and made down motions.
He sank to the ground, his knees giving way. To be touched, and willingly... it was odd. Good. Ropur's breath was warm against his skin, the sudden touch of tongue hot and slick.
"Oh." Oh. He was shivering, his muscles jumping. That felt so good, the touch easing his aches.
"I'm sorry, does it hurt?"
"It stings." That wasn't so much it, but what could he say? The wind rustled in the trees, and Darien listened to it automatically, listened to it tell him all was well. The birds called to each other, waking up in the trees, gathering as flocks after their night of sleep.
"I'm sorry," murmured Ropur, but he didn't stop until each blister had been licked carefully.
"Thank you." His heart pounded, and Darien moved away a little, hoping Ropur could not hear it. "The meat should be ready."
"You are welcome." He could feel Ropur continue to watch him, those eyes like a touch.
The fire called him back, the scent of th
e rabbit suddenly strong. He pulled it away from the fire before it could burn, and before it could bring predators their way. The vegetables were hot and tender as well, and he offered Ropur half.
Ropur laughed softly. "Oh, that's too much for me, Darien. I only need a little." Ropur only took half the offered vegetables and meat.
Darien nodded, tucked the other half away for later. As hard as he'd run through the night, he would need it. He devoured his share while it was still hot, licking his lips and fingers after.
"It was good rabbit. Thank you."
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