A story by guestsurprise! Enjoy!

Things had really been getting better for Mya. She had met fairies, hunicorns, mermaids, Pegasus, Giants, and even a dragon! This island was becoming less and less terrifying every day. But this particular day, her strange would be tested once more.

Storm and Mya were walking along the shore of the beautiful island when Storm stopped and looked at the waves cautiously.

"What is it?" Mya asked, now curious.

"It sounds like a stir in the surrounding islands." He said, now eyeing the other island very cautiously.

"What islands are near us?"

"The island of gargoyles, the island of sirens, and the island of unicorns. We have hunicorns on our island, but the pure unicorns live on the neighboring islands. An island much farther away lives the island of minotaurs. Horrible beasts." Storm said in a huff.

"They all sound so dangerous." Mya shivered.

"Not to worry. We all have strict agreements about each other's islands and boundaries. They typically do not bother us and we do not bother them. As long as you never trespass without a guardian like me, you are safe," He said gently.

"I'm glad...I would never want to meet a..."

"GARGOYLE!" A voice screamed with all their might! Both of them spun around and heard laughter and terrible cries above them. Before Storm could say a word, they had a few gargoyles drop down around them and surround them. Mya screamed in fear and hid behind Storm. He, however, was ready to fight and snarled at them.

"The mighty Storm; why are you so hostile towards me?" A voice crooned. He appeared confused until he saw the one that spoke come forward. He was larger and more intimidating than the others and he wore a type of jewel on his forehead.

"Dakken," Storm said, now calming down a bit. "You know you need to tell us when you are coming or else there could be trouble."

"Apologies. But I had to come; a few on my island are sick and need your herbs to become well. The water on our island is not as pure as it was due to the volcano. Many are suffering." Dakken replied. As the leader, he was trying to protect his people.

Dakken and Storm had a civil relationship. Years ago, their islands fought when the gargoyles invaded. But Storm and his clan were much more war-like than they thought. Centaurs could be peaceful, but then some could be very hostile. During the war, the hostile side came out! Afterwards, they formed a peace treaty.

"I see. Well, since it is a matter of life and death we can see what we can do," Storm replied gravely. Dakken nodded and then turned to Mya.

"I see the rumors are true about you adopting a human into your clan." He said, now studying Mya. "How do they call you, human?"

"Mya," she said gently, but also coughing suddenly. Storm looked at her curiously and noticed she appeared paler today as well. Dakken also sniffed at her and his eyes widened.

"Storm...she smells of poison berry!" Dakken said in shock. Storm quickly turned to Mya and saw a dark berry stain on the corner of her mouth.

"Mya...when you were walking alone before you saw me today...did you eat any berries?" He asked, now worried.

"I had a few from a berry bush; it was near a white berry bush," she said, now looking tired. Storm appeared horrified and quickly picked her up.

"She accidentally ate from the elders' secret supply; those white berry bushes are harmless to elder centaurs and used for medicine but harmful to other species!" Storm said, now quickly galloping away. "Dakken follow me! You can get the herbs for your people at my village!" The leader nodded and followed after the horrified centaur.

Storm ran as fast as he could and upon get arrival to his village the elders saw how limp Mya was!

"Get the human in here!" The elder said, now ushering towards his chamber. Storm nodded and brought her in; she was now sweating feverishly and shivering.

"Mya...elder please do something!" Storm panicked.

"Storm, you need to...wait...what's wrong with you?" The elder said, now noticing that Storm was sweating somewhat. "Storm! You've gotten too close to her; you've caught some of her fever."

"I will be fine; take care of her!"

"Nonsense! Lay down! You both need treatment." The elder said. But he was concerned. The blankets were recently cold and damp from a recent storm, leaving only one to keep them warm for now. "It won't be enough; I need to find more." The elder said now quickly leaving to find more blankets.

Mya was feeling weaker and weaker, but when she turned she gasped in sadness. Storm had an arm draped over her to keep her warm when he was shivering harder than her! Her jacket provided some warmth but him being a centaur meant he was bare chested often.

"S-storm," she said weakly, now sitting up and getting the blanket and wrapping it around him. He moaned in happiness at the warmth and then she crawled to the water bucket to give him a drink. She drug it back over to him and used the scoop to give him drinks from it. The elder walked in just in time to see her tucking the blanket around him more and trying to give him water, despite her being terribly thirsty and shivering too. The elder paused and observed her thoughtfulness and selflessness for her friend; it made him feel differently about her. But he could dwell on that later...for now she needed help.

"Come human; I found another blanket." He said now wrapping her up and gently guiding her to lay down as he gave her a drink from another bucket to prevent the spread of germs. "Drink little one; you need strength and fluids."

Mya was amazed. These centaurs knew so much about health if not more than human doctors! She felt him keeping her warm and then creating a small fire a few feet away.

"Rest. I will check on you all later." The elder said, now going out to see to the gargoyles.

"Mya...are you alright?" Storm asked, now running a gentle hand through her hair.

"I'm fine Storm. Are you?"

"I will be fine. Right now rest...you need to keep your strength up," came the gentle reply.

Mya nodded and then laid her head back down to rest; Storm then followed suite.

A few hours later...

Mya slowly stirred and saw that Storm was just waking up as well. She leaned over and felt his forehead and saw that both of their fevers had broken.

"Storm..." She whispered.

"Hm?" Came the sleepy response. "Mya? Is that you?"he cooed, now gently opening an eye.

"Yes...just making sure you're ok." She blushed, now seeing him sit up and look at her eye to eye. He then leaned up and nuzzled her nose with his own.

"I am fine." He then chuckled now seeing her shyly look away. "What is it?"

"You centaurs nuzzle a lot!" She giggled.

"Of course. It is a greeting and also a way of showing affection and friendship," he smiled, now nuzzling her in her neck making her giggle. At that moment, the elder walked in and gave them both a smile.

"I can see you both are recovering well. You will still need to stay in bed for a few more hours though." Both Mya and Storm nodded at him. "And Mya...I apologize if I seemed rude when you first came to us. I can see you care for Storm as much as he cares for you."

"W-what?" She asked, now confused.

"I saw you caring for him last night by giving him your blanket and giving him water when you really needed those for yourself. Perhaps there is more to your kind than I thought." And with those words, the elder stepped out to get them some fresh fruit.

Mya stared in disbelief. Did one of the elders actually compliment her?! She was interrupted from her thoughts by a nudge from Storm.

"See? The elders are slowly becoming accustomed to you like I promised," Storm grinned excitedly.

"I am very happy Storm! It makes me feel so much better about being here." Mya grinned.

Storm only smiled and nuzzled her nose again. Things may have changed for Mya but they were definitely changing for the better.

guestsurprise: Hope you all enjoyed it!