"How many time I gotta tell ya, bwa? You gotta keep yo' hips low," Vo'jya said, trying to keep his voice even as his aggravation grew.

Taki was trying hard not to look Vo'jya in the eyes, but could not control the lavender blush that felt like it was scalding his cheeks and ears. Each time the hunter moved closer or he put his hands on him in an effort to correct his posture or stance it seemed to get hotter and hotter.

Vo'jya stepped up closer, moving behind Taki and put his hands on the young shaman's hips, pushing them down. "Bend yo' knees, bwa. What kinda troll has a problem wit' standin' up too straight?" he muttered. As he tried to position Taki's hips correctly his hand slid against the waist of the young Shatterspear's loose abada pants, pushing them down his hip slightly. Skin touched skin and Taki made a small, choked sound of dismay. Vo'jya tsked, keeping one hand on one of Taki's hips as he ambled around to face the young shaman from the front. "It en't dat bad, why you fussin'? An' we haven't even started sparrin' so why you all flushed already, bwa?"

"I dunno, Voj... but I be gettin' da loops in mah head."

"Why? You eat sometin' bad? I told you not to eat inny'ting da orcs cook, bwa," the hunter said nonchalantly, taking a step back, but keeping his hands on Taki's hips as he examined his posture. He gave the shaman's hips another directive push downwards and then sighed in exasperation. "Loosen up, mon! Jus' square off wit' me like we about tah dance. Yo' posture was perfect den. Why dis gotta be so difficult when I'm tryin' ta get you to put it to some practical use?"

When they'd finally gotten back to Orgrimmar Vo'jya had left Taki to wait for him at Dark Briar lodge, not trusting the young shaman to stay out of trouble in the more diverse areas of the sprawling orc city. Happy to have finally settled his shady debts and only having had to endure a minor beating for his trouble, he'd returned to fetch the shaman only to find that Taki had joined a troll dancing circle in the ankle-deep water around the lodge.

The fast-paced "dance" was in truth little more than a sneaky - and fun - way to hone, practice, and sharpen basic hand to hand combat skills. It was something every troll child learned, and more often than not dances were preformed as games or competitions with dancers dodging and weaving, kicking, flipping, and twisting around each other in a very convincing mockery of a full-out fight, though it was rare for physical contact to be made.

Taki had always been so awkward and clumsy with the long staff he carried that Vo'jya assumed he was just clumsy and awkward, period. But coming upon the scene of the dance circle - where it actually seemed that Taki was the main focus, other trolls laughing and clapping, keeping time and tagging each other in and out to "dance" with the young Shatterspear - both confounded and amazed Vo'jya. Taki was good. Amazingly so. He was lightening quick, not only in his movements, but in the decisions he made to counter each partner's moves. He flowed effortlessly and seemingly tirelessly around the ring of bodies and each troll who jumped in to join him.

It was in that moment that Vo'jya realized that Taki might not be a bad fighter after all. Perhaps he'd simply been trying to use the wrong kind of weapon. What Taki needed was a little guidance and to find some weapons that better suited him than the long staff.

So before they left the city Vo'jya had bought two things for the young shaman with the remainder of his gambling spoils. The first was a set of daggers, something small and light that would lend themselves to a close range, fast-paced style of combat. The second was one of the young riding raptors that were raised and trained in Sen'jin village.

Even as he left Taki sleeping in the inn to trek down to the village, a place he always felt uncomfortably out of place despite the fact that he was Darkspear, he didn't know what had possessed him to think of buying such a thing for the shaman. But somehow the idea had been planted in his brain and he hadn't been able to shake it. Taki hadn't been able to believe it either, giving him a bewildered and incredulous look when he had presented him with both gifts that morning.

"Vo'jya... I can't be acceptin' dis, mon. It en't dis side o' da line..." he'd said, shaking his head slowly.

"Why not, bwa? An' what dat look for?" he'd grumbled.

Taki had stared at him speechless for a few moment and then turned a furious and violent shade of lavender. "I... I don't be ponderin' straight like... I'm jus' not used to you being honey sweet wit me, Voj."

To be honest with himself Vo'jya wasn't used to it either, and still could not figure out what had possessed him to be so generous. He told himself it was simply because he felt bad for the shaman, knowing he'd soon be leaving him alone in the world again. But what was perhaps closer to the truth was that Taki's sharp words to him that night among the lofty stone spires of Thousand Needles had struck a rather sharp chord.

The hunter didn't know why he should care, but he didn't like the picture those words painted of himself, nor that Taki saw that picture so clearly. He had never cared what anyone else, not even his own master, had thought of him. But somewhere along the way, for some reason it had started to bother him that the young shaman might think ill of him, despite the fact that he had never made any effort to make him think or feel otherwise. So with a little prodding from Vo'jya Taki had reluctantly and rather bashfully accepted both gifts.

Now the two trolls were standing facing each other on the outskirts of the Cross Roads, mounts stabled, fed, and watered, in the diminishing light of evening as Vo'jya began to instruct Taki in the use of his new weapons. Tak'tara's hips were still stiff and locked beneath Vo'jya's hands, and the hunter grumbled, taking another large step back and taking his hands with him. "Okeh. Just do like I said, bwa. Take yo' stance like we about ta dance."

Taki sighed and easily settled into the wide-set near-crouch, arms coming up and into position. He held the pose for a moment and then went slightly limp, straightening up again. "But, Voj, dis don' feel straight-like. I could put dah cut on you wit' dese knives, mon," he said a bit lamely, holding out the daggers, palms up.

"Bwa, dat's kinda da point," Vo'jya said with a small tinge of exasperation. He started unclipping his dual axes from his own hips, finding the proper balance in his hands before crouching down into a ready stance of his own.

Taki's eyes went wide and he took a step back. "You en't gwonna be crackin' at me wit does log-splittahs, is you?"

Vo'jya sighed and tried to keep himself from snarling. "It's just fo' practice, bwa. I en't gwonna hit you fo' real. Now get in yo' stance!"

Taki obeyed, resuming his position, adjusting the feel of the knife handles in his hands until they seemed to be pointing in the correct direction. He shuffled his feet nervously, puffing a stray piece of orange hair out of his equally orange eyes as they fixed intently on Vo'jya's taut and ready form. He tried to keep his eyes from wandering and taking in more of him than he should. But the lines of his muscular shoulders, arms, and chest were almost as distracting as the intense color of his dark blue eyes. Taki felt one of his eyebrows pulling up slightly as the tip of his tongue poked out ever so slightly at the corner of his mouth.

"Taki!" Vo'jya shouted. "Don't space out on me, bwa. I know dat look. Now focus!"

Taki shook his head and blinked rapidly, looking away for a moment, feeling his flush coming back as his heart seemed to pick up its pace. "I'm grinnin' low," he mumbled, and then tried to steel himself to concentrate on the task at hand.

Vo'jya rolled his eyes and mumbled, "How many times I hear dat a day?"

Taki flushed deeper still and tried to look stern and focused. Watching the effort almost made the hunter laugh. "Now jus' come at me like we gwonna dance, slow at first and den we see how well dis is gwonna work."

Taki did as he was told, rocking from foot to foot to get a rhythm set in his mind and body like a distant thrum of drumming. He went forward, kicking high, knowing Vo'jya would easily duck beneath his leg. He pivoted, going low, sweeping his leg out, knowing once again that the other troll could easily step out of the way. Up, down, right, left, high, low, over and under. These moves were all second nature for the Shatterspear shaman who had spent almost all of his short life doing very little other than dancing and drumming away his time with his fellow villagers.

The movements were so ingrained into his muscles that he hardly had to think about them anymore. Once they had a good pace going, Vo'jya started to tighten his movements, bringing them in closer, forcing Taki to be more precise with the way he moved.

Without warning Vo'jya suddenly took a swing at him, axe moving in a controlled arc. Taki barely had time to think about reacting, gasping sharply at the same moment he automatically brought one of his daggers up to catch the blade of the axe and arrest its swing against the hilt. The movement was sudden and jarring, and Taki was as surprised by the fact that he had actually reacted in time to stop the blade as he was by the blossoming ache in his wrist and forearm. But he didn't have much time to be dazed as Vo'jya pulled his axe back and the dance continued.

It went on for some time, the hunter occasionally swinging at him, and each time Taki deflected the blow, though always with that ringing dull ache to his muscles. It started to become fun, almost like a game, and as his excitement grew, so did his confidence. He started to take a few swings of his own, and although they were almost effortlessly deflected by Vo'jya it still made Taki happy to think that he might actually be good at this dual-wielding style of fighting. And if not truly good at it then he at least did not utterly fail at it as he had come to expect of himself when it came to most new pursuits in life. Even riding the raptor Vo'jya had given him from Orgrimmar to the Cross Roads had been a rather tricky and somewhat aggravating task.

As his excitement and confidence grew a strange sense of detached euphoria came over the young Shatterspear like a creeping thing, a fog filling first his limbs and then his mind. It felt strange and somehow comforting, safe to let it happen and to let the growing sense of other and distance guide his movements. Faster, more calculated, sharper, cleaner, each movement like a pinprick of precise action.

Taki took a rather aggressive swing at Vo'jya, bringing his dagger down in a sharp motion that actually drug sparks from the deflecting flat of the hunter's axe. He snarled, barking out a short battle cry. Vo'jya exclaimed sharply and grunted, jerking back from the unexpected ferocity of Taki's attack. He blinked and then chuckled a bit nervously, stepping back, starting to disengage.

"Okeh, I t'ink dat's enough you seem to have gotten da-"

But Taki was still in the mindset of the dance, and without listening to what Vo'jya was saying he followed after him, going low again to swing his leg beneath the larger troll's feet, bringing him down on his back like a feld tree. Hooking his ankle around one of Vo'jya's calves and using this leverage and his momentum to carry himself forward Taki landed with his knee square in the center of Vo'jya's chest, dagger held high above his face, poised to strike downwards. The hunter coughed and grunted loudly, already having had the wind knocked out of him by the sweep kick. His head fell back against the scrubby Barren's ground none-too-softly and he let go of both of his axes, hands limp in the grass. He groaned and tried to breath.

Taki was flushed and panting, grinning down at Vo'jya, knee digging into his sternum. "I got ya pretteh good, Voj!" he said, his voice almost a snarl, sounding strange and deep even to his own ears. He looked down at the hunter, taking in the sight of him startled, winded, and pinned beneath him. It gave him a strange thrill. A shiver went up his spine and into his arm all the way to his hand where the dagger twitched almost as if in its own anticipation of a final blow.

The sensation was so strong and so startling that Taki actually gasped, feeling a strange dark rush all through his body, flowing out of him with an intense shiver. His eyes widened as he continued to look down at the hunter. "Vo'jya?... Are you huffin' strong like?"

Vo'jya coughed and waved his hand trying to motion Taki away. "Get... off!" he croaked.

Taki gasped again as he scrambled to climb off Vo'jya's chest and kneel at his side, looking over him worriedly, a position that seemed to be becoming more and more common. How many times now had he inadvertently brought physical harm to the older troll, the one who was supposed to be his guardian, his protector? It seemed like Vo'jya took more abuse from Taki himself than any would-be molesters, centaur or otherwise.

Taki felt himself wilting slightly beneath his thoughts and the strange sense of sudden fatigue that was coming over him. That, too, was becoming a familiar feeling, though he told himself it was just because of all of the energy he had just exerted sparring with Vo'jya. He bunched his hands against his thighs, lowering his head to mumble his customary apology. "I'm grinnin' low, Voj," he whispered.

"I know," Vo'jya sighed, and then coughed again, rolling onto his side to groan for a moment, still catching his breath. He got slowly and stiffly to his feet, absently patting the top of Taki's orange head as he straightened. "Don' worry about it, bwa. I'm used to it by now."

He shook his legs out one at a time and bent to pick up his axes before turning to head back towards the Cross Roads outpost. "I t'ink you got mah tailbone, bwa," Vo'jya grunted, wincing and limping slightly, pressing the heel of one hand into the base of his spine. Taki knelt in the scrubby grass for a few more moments, pursing his lips together before Vo'jya turned around and fixed him with dark blue eyes and an impatient little finger twirl. "Let's get movin', bwa. Fastah we get to sleeping dah fastah we can get goin' in da mornin'."

"Da fastah we'll be in Thundah Bluff," Taki responded, slowly getting to his feet, awkwardly sheathing the daggers. He shuffled after Vo'jya. "Da fastah you get to be washin' yo hands an' hoppin' da wind on me, eh Voj?"

"Dat en't what I said, bwa," Vo'jya said. "Sure we gwonna be in Thundah Bluff by tomorrow night and den you gwonna be wit da Eart'en Ring, but I plan to stay at least a day." He gave Taki a wink as the young shaman fell into step beside him and they headed towards the road that led into the little outpost. "An' Mastah Jemba gwonna meet us dere. He left me a lettah. Good t'ing we went back to Orgrimmar or else dat would have been da most wondahful surprise." Vo'jya rolled his eyes, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "An' we both know he be givin' me no end of trouble if I just leave yo' spirit speakin' hide dere alone before you get some kind of settled."

Taki looked up at Vo'jya and then away again, nodding slowly.

"You nervous, bwa?" Vo'jya asked almost as if the question was a compulsion, tugging at one of his tusks.

Taki looked up again, finding the hunter's eyes. "I be guessin' truth," he answered, scrunching up his nose and scratching his head.

Vo'jya looped his arm around Taki's shoulders and tugged on the end of one of his braids. "You gwonna be fine, bwa. You did pretteh good wit' dose daggahs. Got me pretteh hard at da end. I wasn't expectin' dat. An' you en't set me on fire once wit' one of yo' totems since we came back from da Undahcity. Dat's goin' on two weeks. Dat's pretteh good, bwa. You be da Farseeah in no time."

"You really be ponderin' dat da truth?" the young shaman asked, perking up and bouncing slightly against Vo'jya's side, looking up at his with wide, slanted eyes.

Vo'jya looked down at him and paused, drawing his brows down in thought. "Well... mebbe not no time, but someday, bwa."

Taki giggled and gave in to the compulsion to lean in closer against the older troll. He took a deep breath, appreciating the mixed smells of leather, wood, dust, and musk that made up Vo'jya's scent. The hunter didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't say anything. "Voj can I be nose pokin' on somet'ing?"

"Dat mean you want to ask me a question?" Taki nodded and Vo'jya released his shoulder, giving him a curious look. "Ask den, bwa."

"Why you callin' me 'bwa' alla da time? You know I'm not as green-like as I be seemin'. I'm bein' of age, mon!" he said defensively, punctuating his words with his hands. "I am not bein' a bwa any more." Vo'jya looked over at Taki with a startled and amused look on his face for a moment before he started laughing. "I'm waggin' hard words, Vo'jya!"

"Yo sistah called you 'bwa' when we first met, bwa. It jus' stuck in mah head. What'chu wan' me ta do about dat?" Vo'jya chuckled.

Taki stopped for a moment and made a face, balling his hands into fists. "But I en't a bwa! I be of age!" he repeated rather vehemently.

Vo'jya paused and gave Taki an amused look and then cleared his throat, trying to look serious. "I see dat. You made sure you told me twice, bwa. But I'm still gonna call you 'bwa'. Even when you da Farseeah, you gwonna be da bwa to me. Dat okeh wit'chu?"

Taki made a pouty face, "Yah I be ponderin' dat's dis side o da line. As long as you be ponderin' straight dat I en't really a bwa, mon." He fell back into step, crossing through the gates of the Cross Roads just as the sun disappeared behind the red mountains of the Barrens.

The view from Spirit Rise in the hour before sunset was perhaps one of the most breathtaking scenes Vo'jya had ever seen. At least it had been the first half dozen times he'd seen it. Over the years he'd been in and out of Thunder Bluff so many times that the sweeping vistas had all but become common place. But at the moment, with his back pressed against the sun-warmed wooden walls of the back of one of the tauren buildings, the rope bridge above creaking in the soft mesa wind, and Lukka gnawing absently on the tip of his ear, the view was almost moving again. He could still hear the deep beating of the drums behind him, two distinct rhythms weaving together pleasantly. The first was the slow, methodical tauren thrum, the second a more vibrant staccato of trollish beats.

Taki had been drumming when then hunter snuck away. He wondered if the young troll was still at it. That had been nearly an hour ago. He took a deep breath of the warm, sweet Mulgore air and let his head fall back against the wooden wall, closing his eyes. He reached up to stroke Lukka's breast feathers, ignoring the disgruntled squawk he got for his efforts.

"Voj?!" Taki's voice was muffled around the side of the building. The hunter cracked an eye and considered not answering. For some reason he just didn't feel like he was up to facing the young shaman. But then his voice came again. "Vo'jya?!" And there was a slight hint of panic in it that made his gut twist. The bwa probably thought he had left him for good without saying goodbye. And even though it was something he probably would have done without a second thought a month ago, it bothered him now to think Taki would be worried about it.

"Back here, bwa!" he called out and then waited, watching the corner of the building out of the corner of his eye. Sure enough a few moments later Taki scampered around the corner, giggling, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"Vo'jya, why you laze shankin' aroun' in da end rays, mon? Dere be so much sway makin' tah do!" he reached down to grab the hunter's hand and yanked on it, trying to pull him to his feet. He tugged several times, digging in his heels, giggling the whole time.

"Okeh, okeh, just settle down," Vo'jya grunted. "I'm takin' a break from alla da ruckus, mon. Enjoyin' da view. Stop pullin' on mah arm!"

"But Vo'jya! I be poundin' fierce, you gotta come bend yo ears, mon! Da Ring be waggin' dey gwonna take me, and now dey makin' dis hoopla! You can' just sit here when you shakin' out on me tomorrow, mon!" He tugged at Vo'jya's arm again, stepping in front of him and yanking. "C'mon! C'mon!"

"Bwa, settle down," Vo'jya tried to sound stern, but couldn't keep the chuckle out of his voice. Taki was enthusiastic and obviously inebriated. "We pretteh close to dah edge here you could-"

"C'mon!" Taki cried again, tugging firmly and bouncing on the balls of his feet. As he did his hands, sweaty from drumming, slipped and he tripped backwards, arms wind milling as he gasped, feeling nothing behind him, eyes wide.

Vo'jya was on his feet in a split second, dislodging Lukka from his shoulder in an aggravated squawk and a molting of frayed feathers. He reached out, hand closing around the front of Taki's leather jerkin, jerking him back from the edge, his other arm looping around his back and catching him hard up against his body.

Startled, Taki cried out as he pressed his face into Vo'jya's shoulder, clutching at the back of his clothes as he tried to regain his balance. His heart was pounding, a sound almost as loud as the distant drumming, and he trembled.

The two stood for several moments still close to the edge. Vo'jya's own breath was coming rather quickly as he stepped them both back from the lip until he felt the warm wood at his back again. "I told you to be careful, bwa. You almost went ovah, and I don' care how much sway you t'ink you got wit' da spirits now, no way dey were gwonna save you from dat drop."

"Mmmn," Taki made an indistinct sound of discontent, burying his face farther into Vo'jya's neck and shoulder, the point of one of his upturned tusks scraped against the skin of Vo'jya's throat, causing the hunter to jerk his head slightly to the side.

"Watch yo' tusks, bwa. You en't had da years ta wear dose points down," he said with a nervous chuckle. Though he had pulled away, something about the feel of Taki burrowing in against his neck was making his body react rather strangely.

"I'm grinnin' low, Voj. I jus'... I jus'..." he nuzzled again, taking a deep breath, "like da whiffs I get offa you."

Vo'jya's eyebrows both shot straight up and he chuckled again, now reaching around his back to catch at Taki's wrists and release his grasp on his clothes before pushing him gently away by the shoulders. "How much you been drinkin', bwa?"

"Not dat much," Taki said softly, his hands rising again to now grip the front of Vo'jya's tunic. He raised his head to look up at Vo'jya with a distant look on his face. The whites of his eyes were shot through with red, and looked a bit dry and puffy.

Now Vo'jya chuckled in earnest, lowering one eyebrow. "Den how much you been smokin' wit' Mastah Jemba?"

Taki opened his mouth to say something, but instead dissolved into giggles, butting his head against Vo'jya's chest. "Not dat much."

"Uh huh. An' have you evah been smokin' da ganja before?"

Taki twisted his head to peek one eye up at Vo'jya, twisting slightly from side to side. "Not hard like."

Vo'jya nodded with an indulgent smile on his face, patting Taki's head patronizingly. "Den I t'ink if you been smokin' wit' Mastah Jemba you have definitely had more dan enough, bwa."

Taki looked up then with a serious look on his face, his blood-shot, slanted orange eyes fixing on Vo'jya's face intently. He leaned farther in, more heavily against the hunter so that Vo'jya's back pressed firmly against the wooden building. He stared down at Taki, eyebrows still raised.

"You en't lettin' it go spit slick what I was waggin' to ya, right Voj? You be ponderin' stone sure I en't really a bwa."

"So you said," Vo'jya responded, feeling as if he should chuckle, but something about the look in Taki's eyes and the way he was pushing himself up on his toes to get his face closer made the sound catch in the middle of his throat and stick there. He watched, wary, pulling his head back as Taki's face came closer. He didn't really realize the danger he was in until the soft clack of one of Taki's tusks rubbing against the inside of one of his registered along with the resulting vibration of the contact. "Taki-"

"Still yo waggin', mon," Taki said with a small hiccup, and the next thing the hunter knew one of the young shaman's hands had closed around one of his long, wide-set tusks and yanked his face down. Their long noses bumped awkwardly and a little painfully, and then with a giggle and a soft sigh Taki pressed his lips against the hunter's, hand unerringly gripping his tusk to keep him from pulling away.

For the first few seconds Vo'jya did nothing but stand stiff, eyes wide and staring as the young Shatterspear kept their lips and bodies pressed together. And then he felt the first soft, wet inquiry of Taki's tongue, and every single sensible fiber of his being told him to push the shaman away and put an end to whatever intoxicated delusions he was having. Yet that's not what he did, at least not at first. Instead his eyes fell shut, eyebrows drawing down as his lips parted, his own long tongue tentatively meeting Taki's, sliding against it and into his mouth slowly, feeling the nervous tension in the shaman in the slight flinching back that dissolved as their lips met again and sealed together, heads angling naturally to make a better fit around their tusks.

He let himself explore the sensation of kissing Taki for another long moment, trying to absorb the fact that his body, usually so impervious to physical excitement, was actually reacting to the young shaman, before his rational brain took over and he pulled back, breaking the kiss and untangling his face and tusks from Taki's. He had to reach up and physically pull his hand from his tusk as the Shatterspear tried to pull their faces back together.

"Bwa, dat's enough. You en't t'inkin' right," he said, his voice low. "You don' wan' ta be doin' alla dis righ' now."

Taki looked up at the hunter fiercely. "I be ponderin' real straight like what I be wantin', Vo'jya! You was pressin' back, mon, I felt it!"

Vo'jya shook his head. "Dat en't da point, bwa. You surprised me." He put his hand firmly on Taki's chest and pushed him back gently as the young shaman tried to press closer again. As he looked up at the hunter Taki's eyes began to fill with tears, his lips trembling. "No... bwa, don' start wit' da cryin'..."

"Is it because I'm hinky?!" he sobbed, suddenly overflowing with tears. "Because I get da trembles fo' oddah mons? Is dat why?"

Vo'jya made sure to keep Taki firmly held at bay, because he knew that if he didn't the young shaman was going to launch himself at him. He shook his head. "I en't got no problem wit' dat, bwa. Dat en't an issue here." And it wasn't. Perhaps it was because he thought so rarely about sex to begin with or because he'd never bothered to think about his own sexuality much at all, but Vo'jya made little of things like gender when it came to sex or love. He had never considered not being sexually interested in Taki because of his gender... up until about a minute ago he had never considered being sexually interested in Taki, period.

"Den what?" Taki pressed on, his face now a mess of tears that Vo'jya knew full well were as much a result of his inebriated state as anything else. "Is it because you still pondah dat I'm a bwa?! I wagged truth dat I'm of age!"

Vo'jya sighed. "I en't answering dat, because you en't in inny position to listen, bwa. You are drunk and highah dan a cloud."

"I en't!" Taki cried, slamming his fist into Vo'jya's chest and hiccupping violently. He looked up at Vo'jya angrily, lips pressed into a thin line and then made an inarticulate sound of frustration, pressing his face into the hunter's tunic.

"Bwa..." Vo'jya began to wrap his arms comfortingly around the young shaman, only to find that he was supporting all of Taki's weight. He had apparently lost consciousness. "Great." He hoisted Taki into his arms, cradling his small, snoring body against his chest as he carefully navigated his way back around the building and towards the continuing celebration. Not even the sound of the drumbeats seemed to disturb the shaman in whose honor they were beating. He had no idea where to take Taki as he had no idea where he was actually supposed to be sleeping.

He heard a distinctive chuckle behind him and turned around to see Jemba eyeing him mischievously, his pipe clamped between his teeth. "You tire dat bwa out already, mon?"

Vo'jya grit his teeth. "No, but I t'ank ya fo' gettin' him so high dat he attacked mah face and den passed out in mah arms."

Jemba chuckled. "He likes you, Vo'jya. Dere en't not'in wrong wit dat, mon. Besides he won' be rememberin' inny o' dat tomorrow mos' likely."

"Well his feelings have become raddah apparent in da last ten minutes, t'ank you, mastah."

Jemba rolled his eyes and sauntered closer. "I have da feelin' dat it's been pretteh apparent fo' quite some time, mon, but knowin' you and yo' t'ick head I doubt ya evah noticed."

"I got bettah t'ings tah do dan wondah what part I play in everyone's sexual fantasies, Mastah Jemba."

"An' what about yo' own sexual fantasies?"

"I don' have inny. An if I did I wouldn' discuss dem wit'chu, old mon," Vo'jya snapped.

Jemba shook his head. "Dere are so many t'ings wrong wit'chu, mon."

"You ought to know. Most of dem are da result o' da way you raised me."

Jemba was silent for a moment at that, pressing his lips together, the hunch in his back seeming to increase as he slumped slightly. "Not alla da ganja an' drink in da world evah convinced me oddahwise. I pray every day dat yo' faddah will fo'give mah failure an my weakness in regards to you."

Vo'jya stared at his master, lips pressed together, his expression unreadable. "I don' need tah hear non o' dis from you, mon. I en't lookin' fo' a heat ta heart." Jemba nodded and took a deep drag on his pipe, saying no more. "Now jus' tell me where I'm suppose to put da bwa."

Jemba led him to a small lean-to set apart from the main buildings of the rise. "Dey said we could stay here, mon," Jemba said, waving a gnarled hand at the three bedrolls spread out on the floor. Vo'jya entered and crouched, carefully letting Taki roll out of his arms and onto the bedding. The young shaman muttered fitfully and then lay still. The hunter touched Taki's face for a moment, brushing back orange bangs from his eyes.

Jemba looked on, his long, graying ears drooping a little. "You know, I raised you da way I did, because I wanted you to be hard, not like yo' faddah whose own good heart brought on his death. I am glad to see dat I was not entirely successful. You more like Dembe den I evah wanted you to be, I see dat now, and I t'ank da spirits I could not ruin you entirely, Vo'jya." The aged hunter turned then and ambled out of the lean-to, leaving Vo'jya stunned, eyes glued to the place his master had been standing. In all of the years he had been trained and raised by the master hunter he had never ever been told that he was like his father.

Feeling weary and confused on multiple fronts Vo'jya lay down, giving up on resisting the urge to pull Taki close to him, letting the shaman burrow into his chest as he draped his arm gently around him. His fingertips brushed the shadow that Taki's form cast on the bedrolls and he shivered violently, taken aback by the intense, stabbing cold that went up through his arm. He looked towards the door of the lean-to, wondering if there was some kind of a draft. But when he did not feel it again he relaxed and closed his eyes, letting his thoughts slip away as he drifted into sleep.

The next morning Taki woke with a start and a pounding feeling in his head he had never felt before. Master Jemba was snoring loudly on his bedroll, and for a moment Taki thought that was what had woken him. But he realized quickly that what had woken him was not something, but the lack of something. Vo'jya and the warmth he had been enveloped in most of the night were both gone.

The young shaman swore under his breath and got quickly to his feet, regretting it immediately as he had the fiercest dizzy spell of his life coupled with the intense desire to vomit. It took him a moment to get his bearings and then he forced himself to stumble from the lean-to, casting around as quickly as his pounding head would let him. He caught sight of the hunter's back, nearly across one of the wooden bridges that swung precariously in the stiff mesa wind.

"Vo'jya!" he cried out, but if the hunter heard him he made no sign and continued across the bridge to the deck of the building beyond. Taki scrambled after him, finding himself having to resist the urge to cling to the swinging bride for dear life as the motion and the incredible height teamed up to give him an intense sensation of vertigo. He forced himself to continue across, finally reaching the other side and calling out again

"Vo'jya wait!" He hurried through the doorway into the building the bridge fed into and halted at the railing of the second floor. Vo'jya had stopped at the bottom of the ramp and was looking back up at him, his face a passive mask. Taki stared down at him for a long moment, trying to catch his breath and control the pounding in his head. "You hoppin' da wind?" he asked finally, unable to keep his voice from trembling.

Vo'jya nodded.

"Wit'out waggin' a goodbye?" Taki asked, clearly hurt, finding it hard to speak around the lump in his throat.

Vo'jya gave a smooth smile, tilting his head to the side. "We said goodbye last night, bwa. I told ya I was leavin' early."

Taki continued to stare and then shook his head. "You wag Damballa's tongue like slick oil, Vo'jya, but truth, mon, I know dat we didn't."

Vo'jya slowly raised an eyebrow. "You remembah last night dat clear?"

Taki nodded. "Watah clear like."

Vo'jya looked down at his toes, giving a chagrinned smile. "I'd hoped you wouldn' remembah, but in inny case you'd been smokin' da ganja wit Mastah Jemba and had sure enough to drink."

"You pressed back."

Vo'jya fell silent and looked up at Taki for a moment before nodding slowly and starting to turn away. "I have to go, bwa. Take care of yo'self."

"You pressed back!" he cried again. "You can' just go hoppin' da wind on me aftah dat, Vo'jya! You can' leave!" Vo'jya made himself keep walking. "You can't leave! Don' you be ponderin' truth, Vo'jya?! I'm hard on ya!" Taki stumbled down the ramp and leaned heavily against the wall, trying to keep himself from falling over.

Vo'jya felt the words rip through his body, and although he had never heard it put quite like that he knew what they meant. He turned slowly, and Taki looked at him plaintively, his face a twisted mask of misery. "I'm hard on ya..." he whispered as if that should explain everything, and his nostrils flared with the first sign of the oncoming tears.

Vo'jya set his lips in a firm line, brows furrowed. "I know."

"Den you can' be shakin' out," Taki repeated, looking at him desperately.

"I have to, bwa. I can' stay."

"You pressed back," he said again. "Dat has to mean somet'ing." He straightened up against the wall and stumbled forward to the doorway, grabbing at Vo'jya, pulling him back away from the door clumsily. Vo'jya followed him, allowing the young shaman to push him into a corner in the dark overhang of the second story.

The hunter looked down at Taki and shook his head. "I t'ink you might still be drunk, bwa."

"Don' be switch splittin' on me, Vo'jya!" Taki cried, pushing him farther into the corner, gripping the front of the hunter's tunic. "You pressed back... you... you kissed me back, mon."

Vo'jya sighed and pursed his lips. "I did, but dat doesn't mean innyt'ing, bwa."

"Den be doin' it again!"

Vo'jya blinked, and opened his mouth, but nothing really came out.

"Do it again, Vo'jya! Press yo' lips to mine as fierce as you did last night, mon. If it don' be meanin' innyt'ing it should be easy enough to jus' be doin' it." They stared at each other hard, and then before Vo'jya could stop him Taki had grabbed his tusk again and pulled their faces together. Again the sting of bumping noses and then the press of their lips.

Vo'jya was going to resist, he swore he was, but then that restless reaction began in his body again and every action he tried to take against it only came back to the same result: continuing to kiss the bwa. Taki's tusks pressed and brushed against his face. Vo'jya's own were wide set enough to avoid contact save for when Take twisted his head sharply to the side. Hands clutching clothes, hands clutching hair, tusks, shoulders, twining around bodies. Vo'jya had never before realized that Taki's skin has its own scent, and he wondered absently how he had managed not to notice this small fact before. He had a taste, too...

This thought brought the hunter back to himself and he broke the kiss, firmly pushing Taki back.

Their eyes met and burned as they looked at each other. There was a triumphant, impish grin on Taki's flushed face. "If you go waggin' dat dere was bein' no meanin' behind dat I'm gwonna pound ya in da guts righ' here, Vo'jya."

Vo'jya let his head fall back against the wall with a sound that felt like defeat. He swore under his breath and then leveled his gaze on the young shaman again. "Dis is not da time, Taki. I'm gwonna let go o' you an' I'm gwonna walk out dat door, an' you gwonna go back to yo bed an' wait ta start yo' trainin, bwa."

"I en't bein' a bwa!" Taki snapped, shoving Vo'jya in the chest. "And how can you be waggin' dat you gwonna shake out on me?! I mean somet'ing to you, Voj. Jus' try ta wag oddahwise aftah dat."

Vo'jya shook his head. "You do mean somet'ing to me, Taki, but what dat is and what dat means I don' know. What I do know is dat I got you to da Eart'en Ring, an' dat yo' place right now is here wit' yo' trainin'. An' right now... dis is not mah place. An' no mattah what you say about not bein' a bwa, dat don' change da fact dat you are still verreh young. You have years to train. I would distract you from dat, an' I can't be stayin' put for dat long." He looked down into Taki's eyes and took a deep breath, hoping he was not going to regret what he was about to say. "You finish yo' trainin', an' when you do we be revisitin' dis subject. I promise."

Taki stared at him hard, gritting his teeth, looking at him as if he would be able to read a lie behind his eyes. "You swearin' it, mon?"

Vo'jya nodded. "I en't nevah been a liah to you. I en't gwonna start now, bwa."

Taki's face softened, his lips going somewhat slack as he stared up into Vo'jya's face. "I don' wan'chu to go, Vo'jya. I will be all eyes down an' alone wit'out you. You'll nevah shake back dis way ta see me."

"Dat's not true, bwa," Vo'jya said softly, letting his hand come to rest on the back of his neck, tightening slightly around his braids. "I swear I will visit you whenevah I can. I promise." He pulled the young shaman against him, pressing his face to his shoulder.

Taki sniffled. "Don' go gettin' slicks aftah you again, mon," he said, his voice muffled. "I don't wan' mah head all drafty wit' worries."

The hunter chuckled and found himself kissing the shaman's forehead, an action that felt strangely natural. "I en't makin' no promises on dat front." They stood quietly against the wall in their tentative embrace, neither precisely sure what it meant or where it would lead. Finally Vo'jya began to push Taki away again. "I gotta go, bwa."

Taki nodded dumbly, looking down at his feet, letting Vo'jya go. He felt elated and crushed at the same time. He meant something to the hunter, but he was leaving anyway. His eyes followed the Vo'jya as he crossed the small room to the door and turned to look back. "I won' let it go spit slick, Voj," he called after him. "You may t'ink dat I won' remembah what you was waggin' as truth today, but I will. I won' let you fo'get neidah. An' I won' stop feelin' dis way, so don' be hatchin' on dat. I'm hard on ya, and I en't gwonna stop bein' hard on ya."

Vo'jya couldn't help but smile with a small shake of his head. "I know, bwa. I en't expectin' ya to." With that he turned and disappeared out the door into the light of the early Mulgore morning.

No longer able to see Vo'jya's back Taki gave a small cry of utter sadness and melted back against the wall. He closed his eyes and tried hard not to cry. He knew how much Vo'jya hated it when he let himself cry. But, spirits, he was so alone, so confused and so alone. Taki let himself slide down the wall, pulling his knees up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees, ashamed that despite all of his efforts he still could not stop the tears. He knew that now that Vo'jya was gone the voices he was always hearing would always be there. For some reason they grew quieter around the hunter. They stilled and settled in his presence.

"Come back, Vo'jya..." he whispered. "I need ya, mon."

You'll never be alone, cully. Not as long as I'm with you. I'll always keep you company, cully. And one day we'll be great friends, and give each other what we need.