Well, Hello there! How have you been? Remember when I used to post this regularly? Well, it's back...so...yeah. A Mother Who You Forgot, more like The Story Who You Forgot. Anyway, here's chapter 12. The next will be about Ayaka and Ramsey, because those two are still alive.

Callin and Shimei helped the captured villagers out of the caravan. After getting words of thanks and dividing the food and items in the caravan among the group, Shimei decided to continue down the road. When he was ample distance from the villagers, he could hear footsteps close behind him. Shimei turned to see Callin following him.

"C-can I help you?" Shimei asked nervously.

Callin only stared quietly.

"Uh…well goodbye." Shimei said before continuing forward.

He stopped after a few feet when he noticed Callin still pursued. Shimei walked slowly, changing to a jog, and finally a mad dash. He dashed down the road until he reached another heavily wooded. Feeling he had lost the taguel, Shimei stopped to catch his breath. He laid against a tree and gasped for breath for several minutes.

"I *huff* think I *huff* lost him…" Shimei mumbled, regaining his composure.

"Lost who?" a voice called from above him.

Shimei looked up to see Callin hanging from the branches above by his feet. Terrified and caught off guard, Shimei screamed and ran forward again.

What in the hell is he? Is he still behind me? Shimei thought in mid-sprint.

He turned his head to look behind him. Shimei didn't see Callin, and assumed he'd given up the hunt. As Shimei halted, he remembered something.

Wait...the last time I let my guard down, he was right above me! Shimei thought frantically looking around.

Shimei eventually put his paranoia behind him and continued forward. Just to walk into Callin. Shimei quickly jumped back and fell on his butt.

"H-how…you! Were there…now here…what…" Shimei rambled while pointing in different directions.

Callin merely stared at Shimei's spastic motions and statements.

"Just what are you?!" Shimei yelled.

"I'm a taguel. I could have sworn I told you that before." Callin replied with a confused tone.

"Cut the Stoic crap! That speed, that strength you used on the bandits and the endurance to keep pursing me is not natural!" Shimei continued.

"Not natural for a human, but I am of a warrior race…or at least I was." Callin said drifting off in thought at the later part of the sentence.

Shimei decided to ignore the portrayal of the latter part of the sentence and continue his interrogation.

"So, why are you following me? Doesn't the 'mighty' warrior have something better to do than follow a child around." Shimei asked coldly.

"Oh, yes I guess I should have explained myself better. I tend to forget our customs differ. You saved me by killing that bandit with a hostage. So I am in your debt." Callin stated.

"Debt? You don't owe me for that. Come to think of it..." Shimei said trailing off at the end.

He hadn't thought about the kill for awhile now. Callin took notice of this and commented.

"You're still uneasy, I assume? That was your first kill by the looks of it."

"You can tell?" Shimei asked sheepishly.

"Your form, heartbeat, and end reaction were clear indications." Callin replied.

"My form, reaction, and...wait, heartbeat? How'd you-" Shimei asked before being cut off by a sound of thunder.

He had remembered seeing grey clouds in the sky before the incident.

"Sounds like rain will come soon. There's cave near here. I'll lead you to it." Callin stated pointing westward from the road.

Shimei was about to interject, but then felt a few drops hit his head. The two began to travel through the woods. As they walked, Shimei noticed a fallen tree. He went over to it and began to tear off branches.

"What are you doing?" Callin asked.

"I'm gathering the wood now. If the rain pours down, the fire wont last as long if the sticks are damp." Shimei replied returning to Callin with a pile in hand.

Callin merely smirked and continued forward.

They arrived at the cave a short while after gathering firewood. By then rain had begun to pour, but Shimei kept the fuel dry under his coat. The two made the fire and dried off in the cave. Afterward, the two passed the time with small talk.

"So, how did you get captured?" Shimei asked firmly grasping his, now dry, cloak around him for warmth.

"..."

"I-I mean if you're not comfortable talking about it, you don't have to." Shimei quickly added with a nervous tone.

"No, I'm not comfortable with it. However, I will answer this question, but you must answer one of mine in exchange." Callin negotiated.

Shimei bit his tongue for a second. He didn't want to reveal anything to a total stranger, so maybe he should drop the question. On the other hand, if Callin wanted to kill Shimei, he could have done it with ease. Shimei decided to trust Callin, and responded with a nod.

"Well, I might have a bit of..." Callin mumbled.

"A bit of...?" Shimei asked giving a hand gesture signaling for Callin to finish his sentence.

"...A drinking problem." Callin continued.

Shimei merely gave a stoic face to Callin's answer. Callin analyzed Shimei's facial expression.

"So they caught you in the middle of a hangover?" Shimei asked with a disappointed face.

"H-hey, what's with the face?" Callin asked changing the subject.

"I was hoping for a cooler answer than that. I thought they would have tricked you or held someone hostage, but they found you drunk or hung over on the side of the road didn't they?" Shimei stated coldly.

"Yes. It's shameful." Callin said with self-deprecation.

"Yep, It sure is." Shimei agreed bluntly.

Shaking off the comment's lack of compassion, Callin continued the conversation.

"I answered your question. So, answer mine. What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"Can I take a pass?" Shimei asked sarcastically.

"No." Callin responded quickly.

"Fine." Shimei said. He followed his comment with a heavy sigh and looked at the ground.

"So, there are people after me. I don't know who they are, but I know two people in the group. Apparently they need me for something, and everyone around me is expendable...even my mother and sister. I'm couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt, so I left." Shimei answered.

"You ran away with your tail tucked between your legs." Callin stated.

"What?" Shimei yelled.

"Don't feed me that nonsense of saving others. You man-spawn only care about yourselves." Callin continued.

Shimei realized his comment to Callin's drinking problem was blunt, but Callin was being down right offensive.

"What do you mean?" Shimei asked hoping to reach the source of Callin's opinion of humans.

"Fine, I'll answer your question with another question. Was there really anyone you wanted to protect? Your family was killed, correct?" Callin asked.

Shimei stopped to think about the question. Ayaka and his mom died. Deep down he knew that he was running away from his problems, but then he remembered something. There was someone that he wouldn't want to see get hurt. Shimei, still staring at the ground, responded.

"Your right. I did only run away to escape my problems. I probably would have believed my excuse at one point, so thank you. However, that doesn't mean I don't care what happens to other people, and I do have someone that might be special to me...w-what I'm trying to say is...I'm selfish, but I still care for others." Shimei admitted.

Callin merely sat quietly, but then began to give a hardy laugh.

"Your an interesting one, I'll give you that. You didn't argue back, but didn't take my insult like a lapdog. I like that." Callin stated.

Shimei smiled at the compliment.

"Hey, Callin, do you remember that stuff about owing me a debt and what not?" Shimei asked.

"Yes, why?" Callin responded.

"Well, how about...you make up your debt...by being my friend and travelling with me? I don't know anything about survival, and having a someone that lives in the woods might have its benefits." Shimei asked with an innocent smile.

Callin thought about the propostion. He knew what the humans did to his people. Callin should be focusing his efforts on locating any survivors from the hunts. He couldn't trust another person. However, there was something about Shimei that reassured him. Callin decided to listen to his gut.

"Travelling with a human is out of the question...but I think I can make an exception this time." Callin said with a smile.

Shimei held out his hand to Callin. The both grasped the other hand and shook on it.

"From this point on, we're brothers. Members of the same warren." Callin stated.

"Ahah! So you are a bunny man!" Shimei exclaimed.

"Call me that again, and the first thing I'll do as your brother is your burial..."

Huh. That turned out a little better than I thought it would, and no I was not going to do a cliché thing where the rain fades after they become friends. Because that is cliché, and god knows I'm far from that. Heh, heh...what are you looking at?!