Chapter 113 - 111

We watch the forest burn bright against the night sky but, lucky enough is the rainy season so once only half the forest is cleaned up by the hungry orange flames and feast at the broken ghouls within the rain comes to settle things down before it could even reach the city, carrying its smoke down with its moist drops.

This dangerous mission ends before we could even notice, and after receiving the message from the other teams that the big Stallion Ghoul had managed to escape, amidst being heavily hurt and using the other smaller ghouls as a meatshield, but at least all the soldiers are well and the combatants inside the town had an easy time dealing with the remaining broken ghouls that could only howl in pain with their own claws digging in their heads, scratching an itch they could not reach.

And yet all of that is beyond us now as we finally get away from the battlefield, funny enough ending just where I wanted all this time around, even attempting it by force: away in the jungle, resting inside a cave, just the two of us.

I stretch my four paws out and open up my mouth in a big yawn as I keep an eye out at the entrance so Asher can heal himself up in peace at the back, a small fire burning at the curving in cave as I can hear the rip and rap of cloth being put along the wounds.

Well, at least that what I thought I would hear until he stops half way and actually stands, his footsteps approaching as he finally sits by my side.

I look at him with a frown, ready to push him back to heal himself, only to stop and stare at his bare chest so close up to me, and at his smooth skin with no apparent wounds what so ever!

"Growl?" 'What?' I try to ask in surprise, considering that, oddly enough, his wounds had not transferred to me at all too!

"Seems like I can heal like you now…" He says, cutting such a casual figure with his hair down because of the rain, laying relax on the floor, that makes my heart skip a beat, especially when he reaches out and brushes my fur.

"How odd… It is soft as fur and yet it reflects the light like your scales used to do… I bet they are as hard too, but I could not tell just by looking." He says as he brushes his fingertips along my fur, stretching my jaw and the back of my ears, earning a strong purr from my part.

Is it weird I wonder… We are in deep shit, with no place to go back to, and yet I've never felt so satisfied in my life…

And we cannot go back not only because of what Sean made, but because Asher had truly cut ties with the city because he asked the Warrior Queen to announce his death back at home, and only a few of his team are aware of his current situation.

Yet is better this way, otherwise the Citadel, like a mad dog with a bone, unwilling to let go, may send search teams, heck, they may do it even now, thinking we are dead, no… better be safe than sorry and spread some safety measure lies.

I keep hitting my long tail on the ground as he scratches my ear, but Asher soon stops and joins me in staring into the rainy night as spots of red still crisscross the place here and there, stubbornly burning but nonetheless being overtaken by the increasing rain in the end.

And thankfully I don't need to say anything as I look at my stretching out paws and back to Asher, inquiring, for he answers it:

"I have been wondering what could have been possibly different from you and the other ghouls, and regarding those runes as well, but I never thought you would truly change this much to the point of not letting room for doubt…But I guess I owe you an explanation don't I?"

"There is not much I know myself either, only bits and pieces, but I've already told you that the Shinzaki think the soil and the mountains are sacred, especially because of their special burial and the crystals formed from it right? And that is part of the problem, this different view and culture, that fueled the war between the nations at first, for there are various resources on those mountains waiting to be harvest."

"But thats not all, these parts have unique creatures too, formed from the strange magical properties this land and its people have, and those were called Mountain Guardians."

"Just like the name says, they would live in the mountains and guard it against any threat, some would even be considerate grave keepers and guiders to the underworld since the Shinzaki would bury their dead at the mountains."

"But one thing for certain is that all those guardians were respected and reverence, and all of them came from spirit animals, living peacefully alongside the Shinzaki."

"But with that appearance… I wonder if all the Shinzaki thought the same uhm… messing with the crystals powers is already a taboo on its own, so I would not be surprised if such people would mess with the guardians as well… and here you are."

… A guardian uhm? That would explain why, at the end of the day, I've not turned into a ghoul nor a human, but into something else entirely, though the exact process is still a mystery to me, at least some things are clearer than before. 

As Asher stops in deeper thinking I feel strangely anxious now, after all the battles, after all the troubles we have been through, finally being able to calm down actually makes me unease, with the after effect of the adrenaline still pumping into my veins.

And other small things pilled up too, mostly been Asher's presence as he affects me differently from before, not making me raise my guard anymore, but actually managing to take it down, brick by brick, until I'm awkwardly left open up to him.

And that makes me want to open him up too, in more ways than one… though, for the first time, killing and feasting on his insides does not sound as appealing anymore… for that would mean that he would not be by my side anymore.

And that thought on its own chills my bones.

That reminds me too… that he does not know that I can hurt him yet, no… but I should not let him know that, this contract gives him some sort of security and control that, without, he may decide is not worth the risk anymore.

…I wonder if he would leave me if he discovers it.

"…What's wrong?" He asks, always so attentive, the lot.

I growl an answer back, laying my chin over my paw, stressed out by the mere thought.

I would not go around and around, only to end up in the same place, alone in the woods, would I? I'm not comfortable with just how much this thought affects me.

So I look over him, only to find that his blue eyes are watching me attentively, and cannot help to give him a nudge with my big feline head, taking in the sweet smell of his body being transmitted through the air without any barriers, and his layback, calm and relax figure shots an arrow straight to my heart, how this always so cold, serious and upkeep Captain is showing himself like this in front of me, only in front of me.

And that, more than anything, fuels the fire inside me to life once more as I rest my head on his lap as the world is left to burn around us.