Ch. 3:
Rei immediately felt more secure when the small group entered the forest, as was natural for a tiger-demon like him. Tala seemed more relaxed as well.
Now feeling more at ease, Rei let his thoughts wander. Not long after he found himself thinking about the two brothers. They still hadn't told anyone their specie. Of course Rei had realized that the redhead was a wolf-demon. It was in the smell, as well as ki. But the other remained a mystery. The more Rei tried to figure it out, the more he found himself thinking about the deep red eyes he had seen earlier, when a slight ray of light had managed to touch them. It was a deep, rich color, like rubies or blood… or fire.
The tiger snapped out from his daydream when he sensed a presence approaching them.
"Wait…" he said, motioning for the others to stop. "There's something heading this way."
"I feel it too," Kenny announced. "It's a demon aura."
"What do we do?" Max asked. Everyone turned towards their leader for an answer.
"We wait," Kai simply stated. No one except for Tala could believe what they heard. 'We wait'? But… there must have been a good reason why he was chosen to be the leader, so that's what they did. They waited.
It didn't take long before a tall young man with purple hair walked out from among the threes. He was wearing simple traveling clothes of soft leather, and carried a spear slightly taller than he was.
"What are you doing here?" he asked harshly. "These are my lands!"
"Oh shut it, Bryan," the mysterious group leader snapped, crossing his arms before his chest. Bryan seemed slightly stunned before narrowing his gray eyes.
"Kai…? That you…?" he questioned.
"Not just Kai!" Tala shouted gleefully and pulled down his scarf, exposing his face for the first time since he had left home. Bryan's expression went from suspicious to shocked to happy in a matter of seconds. Also in a matter of seconds, Tala had run forward and flung his arms around Bryan to give the boy a nice, passionate kiss on the lips.
"What are you two doing here," the purple-haired asked, looking at Tala then Kai and back at Tala again.
We're on a mission to find a 'treasure'," Tala told him.
"…Treasure..?" Bryan asked.
"Yup, 'treasure'," Tala confirmed.
"Okay… Hey, Kai, you know the way to the camp," Bryan shouted to the cloaked boy. "Why don't you take your 'team' there and I'll take Tala for a walk, okay?" The two boys took off, not even waiting for an answer. Not that there would have been one anyway…
"Uh… Kai..?" Tyson started to ask, but Kai held up his hand.
"Bryan is Tala's mate, so we can trust him," the hooded one said. "We'll rest at the camp and continue tomorrow morning." Once again he left little room to argue.
After a few minutes of walking in silence the group entered a clearing with a distinct fireplace in the middle and a few logs dragged around it.
"Tyson, get a fire going," Kai ordered and carried an armful of dried wood over to the blackened ring of stones. "Max, there's a small river over there, go fill the veils. Rei, you go with him." Everyone did as they had been told, too tired to argue.
The sun was setting quickly and soon the five adventurers sat comfortably around a warm fire.
"So, Rei," Tyson interrupted the silence, trying to make a conversation. "You're some sort of cat-demon, then?" Rei nodded and smiled.
"Yeah… I'm a tiger to be precise," he said.
"Wait! Now I know where I've seen you before!" Max suddenly exclaimed. "You're the alpha of the cat-demon clan!" Rei squirmed a little when all eyes settled on him. He would have preferred that little detail to have stayed a secret.
"I would… rather not be in that position…" he mumbled and looked away. Rei knew that the moment he claimed his place as leader of the cat-demon clan Mr. D. would no longer have authority over his kind. And he would be forced to take Mariah as his mate. If only the rightful King of the demons still lived…
The young human priest sensed Rei's discomfort and decided to change the subject.
"What about you Max?" Kenny asked. "Care to tell us about your race and family?" The blond nodded gleefully.
"I'm a shield-demon!" he declared happily. "There isn't much to say about my family… My parents are mages, working on improving our village's defenses! Somehow the magic in their blood hasn't showed up in mine… Now you go, Kenny." The brown-haired boy nodded.
"Well… I'm human… and a priest in training…" he said, though the others already knew that. "My parents aren't that interesting. Mom's sister married a demon, and neither she nor dad saw anything wrong in it, so they were outlawed from their home village. How about you, Tyson?" The indigo-haired boy grinned.
"I'm a full-blooded Dragon!" he announced. "And my grandpa is a respected warrior! Or at least was… He's become a bit senile with his old age and all…" The boy turned towards their silent leader. "So, Kai... I guess it's your turn next." The head under the blue hood turned slightly as Kai glanced at the team. The movement made one slim fraction of slate blue hair fall into the light from the fire.
"My life is none of your business," the teen said in a cold, slightly monotype voice.
"Shees… I was only asking…" Tyson said with hurt in his voice.
Then the last of the comfortable feeling was broken when two demons entered the clearing.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" one of them, a young man with blond hair asked.
"Where's Bryan," the other, blue-haired, demanded to know.
"Ivan… Spencer… Shut up," Kai said calmly. The two boys blinked and almost simultaneously asked:
"Kai…?"
Then Kai did something none of the travelers had expected, but secretly (or not so secretly) hoped. He pulled back his hood.
The two-colored slate blue hair fell down over his shoulders and red eyes that seemed glow in the light from the fire. Rei stared at his leader along with the others. He was gorgeous!
A sudden thought struck Kenny. Kai didn't look at all like his brother, Tala, and the human couldn't help but point it out.
"Not that it's any of your business," Kai stated coldly. "But Tala isn't my real brother. I was adopted into his family." A small "oh" passed the group and everyone fell silent. …Except for Ivan and Spencer.
"So, Kai... What are you doing here?" Spencer, the blonde, asked.
"And who are your friends, and where's Tala?" Ivan wondered. Kai closed his eyes as he answered:
"Tala is with Bryan. This is our team; Rei, Tyson, Max and Kenny. Dickhead sent us on a mission. Bryan will give you the details."
Rei, Kenny, Tyson and Max all blinked. Their leader had managed to give a pretty exact answer with just a few sentences. It was… interesting. Kai turned his head a little to look at his team.
"Go to sleep," he said. "You're going to need your strength tomorrow."
Perhaps it was just Rei's imagination, but did Kai's eyes dwell on him longer than the others?
Not that far away, Tala and Bryan were walking towards the firelight, while talking with lowered voices.
"So… you understand why we can't tell the team…" Tala asked and glanced at his mate. Bryan nodded.
"Yeah… I agree with Dickhead on this… It would be too dangerous…" he said. The purple-haired teen was staring straight ahead with a frown. "I guess… our future is in your hands… It's a scary thought."
Tala was silent at first, but then he hugged Bryan's arm and smiled.
"Nothing to worry about!" he half said half giggled. "To think we've always protected Kai, and now he's the one to protect us…" Bryan smiled faintly and nodded.
The adventurers' first night out in the wild went peacefully.
TBC…
(stares at reviewers in awe.) First I had only one reviewer, and suddenly I have a whole herd…!
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