~Sayyaf~

"Seriously? Seriously!? You had me buy all of this map stuff, and yet we're still lost?" Zander spat out me, his beady little eyes scrunching in fury.

"You think this is my fault? You were the one who wanted all those pointless maps anyhow!" I growled back as I clenched my fists together into tight balls, ready to claw out his eyes at any moment.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Liviana leaning up against a tree, rubbing her temples in stressed impatience. I felt sorry for the girl having to follow along behind this blabbering idiot, but I suppose in the same way I pitied myself for making that exact mistake.

"Yeah, I do. We followed your dinky little 'homing' spell or whatever that was for nearly two days without seeing a single landmark, town, or living soul for that matter!" he sharply replied, attempting to get in my face despite his puny size.

I reeled back and slouched lower into an offensive stance with my claws drawn out for him to see and cower in fear from.

"Oh believe me; I can do a lot more than a 'dinky' guidance spell…" I growled in a low and threatening voice. His eyes widened at my display, my actions having earned fearful respect from the wimpy bard. I smirked and straightened out my stance, lowering some of the hostility in my tone.

"Besides, if you would've followed my way the whole time, we could've been to the next city by now. It was your bright idea to try and make sense of that hardly legible map to decipher where we should go!" I scoffed at him, crossing my lengthy arms as his face became red with shame and anger.

"Okay, that rock really did look like the one on the map!" he argued in his defense.

"So did the 20 other ones that we passed on our way to this clearing, and those ones didn't seem all that important to you, wise guy!" I refuted, leaving him huffing with anger as he once again stepped towards me and became animated.

"You're option didn't get us much further than mine did, and there was no way we could've known what was right or wrong! For all we know, you might've been trying to send us into a trap!"

I snapped my head towards scowled in disgust.

"You? Into a trap? Please, you were capable of doing that yourself."

At this, he threw down his bard's cap and stomped up to me clenching his teeth in a bitter rage. I growled at him and held a hateful snarl on my muzzle as he began to yell up at me.

"That's the last straw! I'm going to-"

A heavy fist came down unto the aged brittle wood of the tree that Liviana was leaning on, stopping us dead in our argument as we turned to look at the startling sound of crunching wood.

She ripped her fist out of the tree she'd punched into, and stormed over to us at a frightening pace, the calm of her face only adding to the wave of fear that was washing through me like a typhoon. I glanced over to the bard, and he was even worse off than I was. His tan skin had turned a sickly pale as his blue eyes stayed glued on Liviana, his entire body quivering like the trees around us in the chilling wind.

Turning back to Liviana, I jumped at her sudden arrival in front of me. Her body looked so tense and wound up, I was surprised she hadn't crushed all her bones from how tight she was clenching every muscle in her small frame. In all my 15 years of life, I'd never feared for my safety more than I have now; I would rather face 100 Templars at the Marble Tower than the wrath of a woman like Liviana. She spoke in a hushed whisper, each sentence leaving her mouth like poison on the tip of the fear dagger she'd already dug into my stomach.

"Two things."

She lifted two fingers as she spoke, her arm looking as if it were about to explode from the trembling anger that filled the basitin.

"First off, that tree was the hardest I've ever punched anything in my entire life, and I'm almost certain I broke something in my hand when I did that."

My eyes nervously darted back between her and the ground, the fur on my back stiff with fear.

"Second off, we will never solve anything by arguing over nothing."

I hung my head down and scratched the back of my neck, not particularly enjoying the life threatening scolding that she was bearing down on me and Zander. Her voice was sharp; I could feel it cutting me apart with each word.

"So, why don't we work together and try to find a solution to this problem, before I bare another broken hand in favor of making your faces the new contenders for the hardest thing I've ever punched?"

By this time, both Zander and I had long since lost our appetite for fighting, and I think he may even need a change of britches. Just as I prepared for another fit of scolding, her ears perked up as she whipped around and locked onto an area of bush a little ways away from us. Curious at what the young Basitin had heard, I propped my ears up and listened intently to the bushes too. The bard was left as clueless as ever as his eyes shot to where we were looking.

"Is uh… Is something supposed to happen?" Zander asked with confusion filling his voice.

"Shut up."

I cut him off bluntly, training my ears back to the rustling bushes.

"Something's coming!" she whispered at us, ears twitching as she turned back to address us.

Liviana crouched low and signaled us to do the same as we shuffled behind a large shrub that concealed us from view. I leaned in and got the others' attention by flicking them with my tail, an old military tactic that was good for discreetly alerting others.

"I'm going to take a peek," I whispered in a barely audible tone. I turned from my crouching position and got on my knees from behind the bush, my head barely poking out enough to catch a good look at the threat.

A heavy machete cut through a small patch of shrubs as a light, gray furred keidran came out from behind the foliage, his tall body shown fully in the open sunroof of the forest. He wore a heavy brown jacket accompanied by a colorful scarf consisting of a red and blue pattern. A white v-cut shirt covered his chest, and long tan trousers concealed his legs. He had what looked to be a tool belt and several different assets for travel, like a compass and several maps it had seemed.

I scoffed in disgust and sank back down behind the bush. He was obviously not a wild or feral keidran, but I would've rather met with one of those than this sad excuse for a forest wolf. At this point, he was practically a human with fur and a tail.

"Typical," I thought bitterly to myself, alerting the others with my tail once more.

"What'd you see?" Zander asked in a hushed whisper, his eyes wide with worry at having to actually fight for once in his life.

"It's a keidran, but not a wild one. He's been horribly humanized though, so I doubt he's any threat to us. Just in case he is though, we all have a weapon right?" I asked, directing my comment mostly to the bard.

He triumphantly pulled out the sickly yellow lute from behind him and gave a devious smile as I rubbed my eyes with defeated frustration.

"Got all I need right here!" he declared in a proud whisper.

"What, are you going to strum them a little diddle and hope that your playing is horrible enough to kill them?" I said with sarcastic annoyance.

He gave me a glare with his ugly, beady eyes before frowning and continuing his declaration of combat methods that were sure to get him killed.

"No, I'm gonna bash their heads in with it!" he exclaimed with a testing look towards me. "Though I'm starting to think it might work better on you…"

He stroked the lute as I burned a hole through him with my stare. There would be time for him later. Right now though, we had bigger problems.

"Alright Liviana, if worse comes to worst, you can use your walking stick as-?"

I turned to where Liviana should've been siting and stopped dead in my sentence. Just moments ago the Basitin doctor had been sitting right there, and now she was gone. Fearing the worst, I whipped around on my knees and poked my head above the bush, the bard doing the same. I sighed a breath of relief as I saw Liviana and the keidran calmly chatting in the gentle sunrays. I stood up and brushed off the leaves from my cloak, heading over to the two in the shade of the forest. Zander saw me leaving and looked confused for a moment, hoping to his feet and following me like a lost puppy.

As I approached the couple, Liviana shifted her head towards us and signaled at the keidran about our presence. His vibrant green eyes filled with a happy glow as he went to greet me and the bard, politely sticking his hand out for me to shake.

"Hello there! I'm Caine."

He tilted his head with a relaxed and radiant smile, his small blue earring gleaming in the sunlight on his right ear. I hadn't noticed it earlier from afar, but I also noted that unlike me or Liviana, he lacked any hair besides the fur that covered his body.

I cautiously returned his polite gesture and retracted my hand after a few shakes. I didn't like the fact that he was almost as tall as me, and I certainly didn't enjoy his human-like nature.

"Sayyaf," I said blankly as the keidran moved on to greet Zander, giving me a chance to retie my graying brown hair into a short ponytail before moving away from him. After introducing himself to Zander, they talked as Caine giddily chuckled. He spun around to address me and Liviana with a beaming smile.

"So, you've got a bard, a mage, and a doctor huh? It sounds like a set up for a bad joke!"

He snickered as Liviana cracked a sideways smile and Zander laughed lightly, the bad joke about bad jokes apparently tickling the idiot's funny bone. I flicked Liviana with my tail to get her attention. She looked over to me as I leaned in and spoke quietly.

"Hey," I whispered in a soft tone, "I don't think I trust this guy."

She turned her head to he and Zander talking for a moment before turning back to address me.

"Looks like you're going to have to learn then, because he's a cartographer," she stated with a hint of malice in her voice as she crossed her arms and propped her eyebrows up at me.

I sighed heavily and rubbed my eyes, trying to explain myself to the young doctor.

"Yeah, yeah…" I trailed off absentmindedly, attempting to find a way to get my point across.

"A map maker would certainly be useful for finding our way back. The point is though, is that we hardly know this guy! And if his clothes are anything to go off of, then I'd have to say that he has been completely humanized. That means that at any moment he and his other spies could-"

Liviana cut me off with a shake of her head and a heavy hand on my arm. She looked sad yet stern, like a mother catching her son stealing something and having to talk to him about his morals. I was confused as to what she was doing, but I think it was along the lines of comforting and reprimanding me? Mixed feelings filled my head as she spoke in a sympathetic but blunt tone.

"Look, Sayyaf. I understand you were in the war against the humans, but that war is through. It's time to put down your weapons and accept that the world is changing, because it's going to happen, with or without you. Stop living in the past, unless you want to die with it."

She dropped her hand from me and started tapping the ground with her stick to find her way to the other two, leaving me stunned and alone. My eyes stayed glued to the spot where the Basitin had once stood, her look of concern burning into my mind. I… I didn't even know how to feel. More than anything I just felt empty.

I shook my head and cleared my thoughts, not wanting to think about it anymore. Maybe she was right, but I wasn't about to give up my suspicion of the world around me. I fought too hard, lost too much to simply give up and let everything I did be for nothing.

I felt my ravaged arm flex beneath my cloak, bitterness filling my heart. No, If there was ever a time for all the races to live as equals and achieve peace, it would not be a time that I'd get to see.

"Sayyaf!"

I snapped out of my trance and looked back to the small huddle of people around a map as Zander called out for me.

"There's a village just an hour down away from here, and it has an inn too!" he exclaimed happily as I made my way over to the rest of the group. My stomach growled and I sighed, forgetting just how bad off we were. Caine seemed nice enough, and I suppose that his way was better than nothing.

With relieved smiles coming from everyone as they talked, I couldn't help but crack a tiny smile myself. Maybe we were a joke, but I'm starting to think that this will be a joke worth listening to.

~Caine~

The sounds of the rivers flowing evenly and the rustling of the winds filled my senses as we made our way to the nearest town. It was a shame I couldn't stop and take a nap along the riverside. I wasn't bothered too much though, as the group I guided were an interesting bunch! I glanced back at the trio of oddities and smiled to myself, thinking back on the conversations I'd had with them along this serene walk into the dimming light of day.

Zander, was a hoot! He seemed like a fun person to be around when you were bored, and was a genuine person. Though he was sarcastic at times, he was hardly overbearing with it as far as I could tell. I talked with him first, and he spoke fondly of his sister that he'd planned on meeting. After some talking, he even taught me how to play his lute, though I wasn't quite made out for the instrument's smaller size. I saw him talking with Sayyaf, which was odd considering how the two didn't get along. At least for now, the two were civil.

Speaking of Sayyaf, I wasn't sure how to feel about him. I could tell that he was a wise mage with much experience, but I could feel that his heart was filled with bitterness and hate. When we talked, he shared very little about himself besides a few tidbits on how he lived in the forest wolf territory. We did happen to share a few fond memories of our common homeland, and I felt that after that, he opened up more to me. There was certainly some things troubling the poor man, but I knew he'd be able to overcome his demons; we all do in the end. I hoped to learn a lot from Sayyaf, if he was willing to share.

Someone else I thought I could learn a lot from was Liviana, though I hadn't got the opportunity to talk to her yet. She seemed somehow different than the others, as she was more reserved and thoughtful than the rest of the group. She didn't strike up conversations at will like Zander, but she wasn't brooding and full of malice like Sayyaf. She seemed to be absorbing the world around her like a sponge, taking in everything she could with every step she took. I envied the way she seemed to both be able to take in the sensations of the forest while also being able to walk. I always had to stop and lay down if I ever wanted to truly appreciate my surroundings, but she seemed to be able to do it on the go. I smiled as I watched her gracefully walk through the forest like she'd lived here her whole life.

I was impressed with how fast she could walk without seeing, and even as I walked up beside her, she kept right up in pace with my large strides from my tall legs. She skillfully avoided obstacles with the guidance of her well placed stick jabs into the ground. I loved how free she walked, not needing anyone's help despite going through parts of the forest that were as treacherous as a mountain side. I walked in time with her and observed the fascinating way she moved for a while before speaking.

"So, you're a doctor then, Liviana?" I asked with a goofy grin on my face, excited to get a moment to talk to her.

Her ears perked up at the mention of her name, making my heart flutter a tiny bit. Though I'd only just met her a while back, I'd always found Basitins to be much more attractive and elegantly built than keidrans. Something about their silky fur and large, perky ears allured me, and my heart abounded in joy from being able to talk to one in person.

"Ah yes, I've been practicing medicine for… Hmm… 6 years now I think it was?" she responded thoughtfully, her gentle higher pitched voice exalting a sort of hidden songbird quality as she spoke.

"Wow, that's impressive!" I complimented wholeheartedly, encouraged by how inviting her tone was as we talked. I took notice of the wraps around her hands and tail as well, nodding in understanding as I watched her. It seemed that not only was she an expert doctor, but she was also ready to administer care at a moment's notice.

"Say, why is it that you say 'practicing medicine'?" I asked dumbfounded, my curiosity about the often used terminology getting the better of me.

Her lips curled up into a grin as she answered, pride in her work swelling in her voice as she spoke.

"Well, unlike some of my other colleagues, I happen to believe that you can never stop improving. There's always so much to learn from the world around us, so long as you're willing to pay attention."

By now, my tail wagged uncontrollably as I grinned wider than I had the whole day. Not only did I have a stunning and intelligent Basitin walking right beside me, but she also shared the same philosophy and ideals that I did!

"That's awesome!" I enthusiastically replied, watching happily as her glowing smile grew with each passing sentence we shared.

"I think the same way," I continued, "I've always been in love with the prospect of learning and discovering more about the world. It's the main reason I became a cartographer, so I could see as much of the world as possible during my lifetime."

Her smile faded at the mention of my shorter life span, a small furrow of worry forming on her brow.

"Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten about short a keidran's life was…" she lamented solemnly.

.

"Well hey now! It's not that short to us!" I replied brightly, watching her faded smile restore to its former glory.

"I personally think that Basitins and humans live a bit too long actually. I'd imagine that if I had another 40 years to live, well… I'd probably just end up napping them away, because I wouldn't know what to do with them!" I exclaimed cheerfully, watching Liviana laugh a little at my silliness.

She turned her head in the direction of my voice and gave a polite smile to me before speaking.

"Caine, I really hope that you'll be able to see the world before your time here is done."

She paused thoughtfully before posing her next question.

"How old are you exactly?" she questioned with curiosity as I beamed with the chance to share more about myself with the lovely Basitin.

"10 years old, and I'm hoping to live until I'm 30 too!" I answered gleefully, a smirk curling up her lips at my response.

"Hey now, I thought you said you didn't want to live that long?" she teased at me as I fiddled with my jacket sleeves.

"Well, I don't want to live forever, but a few extra years to truly grasp the wonders of the world would be nice," I sighed lightly, wistfully thinking on the distant future where I would have to face my demise. When I looked over to Liviana again, I was disheartened to see that she had turned somber once more as she spoke.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I know what you mean, about wanting to see the world and all."

"Well, who's to say you can't?" I replied after a little while of silence, her ears perking up once more after falling droopily with her crestfallen mood.

"After all, I know a few places that you can truly experience the beauty of the world around you, with or without sight."

Her face glowed with positivity at my promises, her smile rekindling happiness in my soul.

"In fact," I mentioned proudly, "I even know of one that's not too far from Whitefield if you ever wanted to check it out?" I offered, wagging my tail with radiating happiness.

"Heh," she chuckled lightly at me, still grinning despite herself, "I might have to take you up on that sometime."

She stepped closer to me as she spoke with reverence on her past.

"You know, my parents had it in their best intentions to keep me sheltered from the world, but all I'd ever wanted to do was go out and experience the world for myself. When I managed to wiggle my way out of Heywood, the world wasn't really that different from home. I ended up just as I started, stuck in a little town practising medicine without anything fresh or exciting to add to my life."

Her ears dropped a little bit as she frowned from her previous experience with the world around her, but when she turned back to me, she was smiling warmly again.

"But you seem like you have a pretty good grip on the world. It'd be good for me to see something new for a change," she slyly smiled before addressing me once more.

"You'd better not disappoint me though, Caine!" she warned playfully.

My heart leapt with uncontained bliss at the prospect of being able to show Liviana one of my favorite landmarks across the continent. I don't know why, but she made me happier than anyone I'd met before. I could tell that we were going to be great friends! It's such a relief to know that I'd finally found someone much like myself in the world.

Over on the horizon, I spotted the Inn I had mentioned earlier and stopped to wait for the others, still smiling from before. As we stood close to each other in wait for Zander and Sayyaf, I felt the wrapped tail of Liviana gently brush over mine in a moment that seemed to last too long to be an accident. A wave of nervous jitters shot up my spine as I felt her silky tail drag across mine in a brief pause of time. My chest tightened as I breathlessly turned to Liviana, stunned in silence from her actions.

I was shocked, unsure if the touch was anything more than an accident. Her face glowed with a tint of red sincerity as her head looked to the ground in embarrassment. She shyly played with the wraps around her hands, her blush steadily growing as we stood together in awkward silence. I couldn't help but to wag my tail at what happened, even if it was just an accident. I noted how adorable the flustered Basitin was before returning my stare to the ground, my cheeks growing steadily warmer with each passing moment. Though my stomach was doing flip flops from the tail touch, I kinda liked the tingling feeling that zipped through my body when she did it.

Finally Zander and Sayyaf came walking up behind us, the bard huffing in exhaustion.

"Ughhh… I thought I'd never make it out of that stinking forest," Zander complained airily, heaving the bag of supplies off his back and onto the ground.

Sayyaf smirked at the prospect of the poor human having to carry the heavy supplies the rest of the way out of the woods.

"Now you know how I feel, buddy," he commented sarcastically, nudging the human. Zander sighed and rolled his eyes, ignoring the fox.

"Doesn't help that this whole journey's been getting colder with each passing day," Zander sighed with unhappiness at the changing climate.

"The cold isn't all that bad," I reconciled with a smile. Zander mumbled a response under his breath, glaring at the ground.

"I'm tired and hungry. Are we clear to head off to the inn now?" he asked irritably, the long journey taking a toll on his small frame.

I nodded and signaled towards the inn on the horizon.

"Yep, we're all set to go! Are you guys okay with sharing rooms to save a bit of money?"

"Works for me…" Liviana said off-handedly, still blushing from before.

"Whatever gets me to a bed faster," Zander sighed, rubbing with temples with exhaustion.

"As long as I don't have to share a room this smelly human, then I'm all good," Sayyaf teased, sending Zander in a sputtering rage as he spun around to yell at the old fox. When Zander was greeted with the sly smile of Sayyaf, he deflated and turned back around, only then realizing that Sayyaf was joking. His triumphant smile beamed over the defeated bard, and I smirked at seeing him genuinely smile for the first time.

"I suppose that even the sternest of foxes can't help but be a little mischievous from time to time," I thought silently in my head as I addressed the group.

"Alrighty then, Ill share a room with Zander, and Sayyaf will stay with Liviana," I commented, unfolding my map and tracing a rough path to their destination with my finger.

"And it looks like we'll have to head out of the inn by nine if you guys want to make it to Whitefield Pass by the end of the week."

Everyone nodded, eager to get to their hot food and warm beds.

"Then we shall venture on!" I declared, heading onwards into the setting sun.

I glanced over one last time to Liviana, her stoic and plain expression returned back to normal. A small smile slipped out from my lips though as I noticed she still had a hint of rose to her cheeks.

A new adventure waited for us on the horizon of tomorrow, but for tonight, it was time for some well deserved rest.