You probably didn't notice, but last night I corrected some things in earlier chapters so they better match where I'm going with the story. No major changes, just very minor ones. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! And thank you to all of my new followers and all of those who comment! Believe it or not, your reviews really do lift my spirits. Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen

"Do you need anything?" I called up to Edward.

"I am fine. Thank you," He hollered down. "Just keep holding the rope."

I made a face. My job for the last hour was holding a rope which I was starting to think held nothing down, considering how suspiciously light whatever it was this rope was holding. I didn't think Edward would lie to me, but after I accidentally knocked him out of the tree, nearly chopped the end of his tail off, and hit him with the branch, I could see why he had given me a job safely on the ground.

I was starting to rock back and forth on my feet from boredom. Part of me considered letting the rope go to pursue more exciting things, but I didn't want to fail at my only job. With my luck, I was almost positive something horrible would happen to Edward.

I jumped and squealed when Edward landed on the ground in front of me. He shook the leaves from his hair before grabbing the rope.

"Our shelter is finished," He said as he tugged the rope down. "It will be fine for the night."

I crossed my arms when the rope fell, and he started wrapping it in a circle.

"I knew you gave me a fake job." I huffed. "You could've told me you didn't want my help."

"I did not want to make you feel sad. You really wanted to help." He said as he tucked the rope into his satchel. "But I was afraid I would become seriously injured if I kept you in the tree."

I rolled my eyes at him, but reluctantly agreed. "Alright, well, what do we do now?"

"I will put our rations in the fire and while it cooks, I am going to swim in the ocean. I am sticky from the tree."

"You shouldn't go swimming in the water here," I said as I followed him out of the jungle. "Those things are in there. The things that hurt my foot remember?"

"I know of the brals. I will look in the water before I swim."

"So you know where they live?"

"I do," He said. "If you would like, we could swim together. There is a small lagoon just a little ways away. It will be safe to swim in."

"Let's go," I smiled brightly. "I would love to explore more of this island. Get more inspiration for drawing."

He smiled at me before looking over at the sun. "We have time. If you would like, we could go to the lagoon first, then fix our meal."

"Lagoon first," I smiled widely. "Which way?"

As soon as he pointed the way, I took off running. I heard Edward chuckle behind me then the sound of his footsteps lightly stepping onto the sand behind me. I turned my head to look behind me, but I didn't have to turn my head to far because he was suddenly right beside me.

"You're a little fast," I said, panting slightly. I started pumping my legs harder and heard his boisterous laugh again. I smiled widely and turned my head to look at him behind me. But he wasn't there.

Suddenly, I was hoisted off my feet and swung in a circle into somebody's arms. I was a little dizzy but when my eyes unblurred themselves, I looked up to see that Edward had caught me and was now holding me bridal style in his arms. He was smirking, which was both enduring and weird to see on his strangely handsome face.

"I am very fast," He chuckled as he started walking. "Faster than your eyes can keep up with."

I snorted. "Whatever, it's—,"

The sounds of screaming filled the air. Men, women, and children screeching. There was blood everywhere, large beings with spears charging through the trees. Spears poised in front of them, searching for death.

I gasped for air as I looked around wildly for the attackers. The screaming faded into nothing as the soft typical sounds of the island filled my ears.

Edward had paused and was holding me tightly, his own eyes as wide as mine.

"Did I frighten you?" He asked nervously.

"N-no," I said, placing my hand over my thumping heart. "I-I don't… I don't know what…what that was." I shuddered.

He lowered us onto the sand and began looking me up and down, examining me thoroughly. His tail was moving back and forth slowly before he let out a soft whine.

"There is no physical injury on you," He said, before letting out another soft whine. "I am not sure what to do."

I inhaled deeply and rolled the fear from my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll be alright. It was just a weird… I don't know."

His massive hand stroked my hair back. "Would you like to go back and rest? Perhaps it is best if you rest for a bit."

"No, I'm fine." I said as I began to pull myself to my feet. "Really I am. I want to see the lagoon."

When he didn't move, and just stared at me, I looked up at him and pouted my lips very slightly before saying "Please?"

He sighed. "Alright, but if it happens again, then I will insist we return to our shelter and rest."

I nodded. "Okay I agree to that. Now let's go."

He scooped me up into his arms. "I will carry you there."

I sighed but didn't argue. If holding me made him feel better than it was fine.

It took us about twenty minutes to make it to the lagoon by walking. As soon as we were in sight of it, I hopped out of his arms. He gasped lightly as he made a motion to catch me if I fell.

"Wow," I said, "It's so… so beautiful."

He smiled widely. "It is very beautiful. It is one of my favorite places."

"Just one?" I asked. "How many other favorite spots do you have?"

"Several," He grinned as he reached for his loincloth. He paused. "I just realized that this is my only covering."

"Oh, yeah," I said as I looked down at my own clothing. "This is mine too. Um, I don't know—"

"I do not want to make you uncomfortable, but usually, my littermates and I will swim naked together. If you are comfortable enough, we could just swim in the usual way."

"Swim naked? Is that allowed?" I asked.

He cocked his head to the side. "Why would it not be allowed? Is it not allowed where you are from?"

"It's really looked down upon," I said. "Actually, a lot of stuff is looked down upon. Like me walking around with my breasts exposed like this," I gestured to my bare chest that was only covered my beads. "And the joke I made the other night about looking up my skirt seemed to offend you. So, I'm just a little confused about the customs and what not."

He sat down on the large boulder and tapped his chin. "I do not understand why your naked breasts would be looked down upon. Do you look down upon me because my chest is bare?"

My eyes widened. "No, not at all. It's just really different for men and women where I'm from. Men can walk around with their chests showing and no one bats an eye. But if a woman were to do it, she'd get several labels. I'm sure if my local pastor were to see me dressed like this, he'd call me a whore."

Edward suddenly jumped-up snarling, his teeth exposed. "Who called you a whore!? I will rip their throats out and remove their intestines!"

I had jumped back away from Edward. His anger had sent chills down my spine. I had tried to answer him but only a squeak passed my lips.

He took a step closer to me. "Who called you that horrible, disgusting word?"

I reached out and placed my hands on his chest to calm him down.

"No one called me a whore," I said very slowly. "I was just giving you an example. Please calm down."

Edward took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. "Are you sure no one called you that word?"

I wanted him to calm down, but I didn't want to lie to him. Of course I had been called a whore before. I'd been called many words. That was just life. It wasn't true, but sometimes people were jerks.

"I mean, sure. I've been called that word a couple times. But it's not like it's a big deal—,"

"It is a very big deal. That is the worst word a woman can be called. Did your father disembowel those who called you that?"

"No Edward, my dad didn't disembowel anyone for calling me that." I let out a sigh. "Where I'm from, the word whore is, well, I guess it is a bad word but it's not like it's a big deal. People call women that for a bunch of reasons. All of them are really stupid reasons, but it's whatever."

Edward let out a growl. "That is disgusting. No one should ever use that word for any reason. People who use that word should be torn apart."

"Okay, so just for my own safety, why don't you tell me the other words that aren't acceptable. Obviously whore is on the list."

"There are only a couple," He said. "Whore is the worst. Slut is another horrible one. A mutton dressed as a lamb is a terrible one too. And boy when you are speaking to a man."

"A mutton dressed as a lamb, what does that mean?" I asked.

His brows furrowed. "I am not sure. I just know we do not say that. It is not allowed. My mother might know what it means."

I nodded. "Hm, well if there's anything else I shouldn't say or do, please let me know. I don't want to be disemboweled."

"I would never allow you to be disemboweled." He said firmly.

"Well thank you," I said. "So, being naked isn't a big deal? Why were you offended by the joke I told last night? About looking up my skirt."

"Because I am a man and I do not need to look up your skirt like a curious little boy. I know what a female's genitalia looks like and its functions."

"Oh," I nodded in understanding. "Gotcha. So, it's not a sexual thing it's a child-thing and you don't like to be called a boy."

"Why did you make that joke? It was not funny." He stated.

My brows raised as I thought about it. "You're right. It's not funny to joke about that. I'm sorry. Where I'm from, I'm just used to hearing jokes like that. Well, they're not really jokes, it's sarcasm. You probably don't know what that means. But I've heard gross stuff like that all my life. From men mostly."

"Hm," He snorted. "It is not funny. I do not understand why the men from the other side are so disgusting. I do not know how the women survive."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You are way too sweet. And you're a feminist's ideal man."

He smiled softly and looked at the lagoon. "Are you alright to swim the usual way? If it is too uncomfortable for you, we can go back to our shelter."

"No I'm fine," I said as I reached my arms up to untie my top. "I'll be fine. If this is the custom, I'd like to— whoa."

My top fell to the ground when my hands untied it but failed to catch it. My eyes were wide and stuck on Edward's naked body. He had been quick to remove his loincloth that I hadn't expected to look up and see his… whoa.

"Are you alright?" He asked me, "Your skin is turning red. Are you feeling sick?"

"I-I'm fine, I just did not expect…" I blinked several times to try to force myself to tear my eyes away from his manhood, but I was so shocked I couldn't get myself together.

He followed my gaze and then laughed. "You are like a child! I should have realized that you have never seen a pintel before, ha-ha!" His tail was waving back and forth as he laughed.

My blush deepened. "Edward, I have seen penis's before, but I have never seen one like yours."

His tail dropped, "You have seen pintel's before?" He asked in confusion.

"Don't worry about it," I said as I finally tore my gaze away from his penis. I felt very flustered and I tried to think about something else, but all I could think about was his penis.

"It is strange to you, like the rest of me?" He asked. "It will take you time to get used to my pintel, like you did my appearance?"

"Most definitely," I said, inhaling deeply. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, it's just very shocking is all. And a little terrifying."

"Terrifying?" He said as he looked down at himself. "It frightens you? Would you like me to cover myself then?"

"No, please don't cover yourself. You want to swim, let's swim." I gulped as I reached for the knots in my skirt.

"Please tell me why my pintel frightens you." He asked as his tail wrapped tightly around his leg.

I was about to tell him to just drop it, but suddenly a feeling of self-consciousness appeared in the pit of my stomach. I realized, with great horror, it was Edward's emotion and not my own.

I had made him feel self-conscious. I can't believe I had made him feel this way about something that was so normal to Edward and his people. No, I did not want him to feel like this. I grew up feeling this and it is not a good feeling. Edward and his people are carefree and happy, I did not want the toxicity from the other side to leak in and destroy their carefree, happy world.

I untied my skirt and let it drop. "Your pintel is just fine. The size scared me for a moment, that's all. Where I'm from, they just don't get that big. And I've never seen one with those, um, markings on them."

"Hmm," He hummed as he stared down at himself. "I am sorry it frightens you."

"No, Edward please don't feel that way. I'm sorry," I said as I moved close enough to him and placed my hand on his arm in a comforting way. "It scared me for just a moment. Just it's size. And these markings. But it's not scary anymore it's actually kind of interesting. The scientist in me is very intrigued and has a ton of questions."

He smiled softly after a moment and the self-conscious emitting from him disappeared. I sighed in relief. I didn't like for Edward to have any negative feelings.

"Would you like to swim now?" He asked.

"Yes please." I said before jumping straight into the lagoon. I heard him laugh loudly before he jumped into the water himself.

In old English, pintel was the name for penis. And with Edward's size and his non-human features, I'm sure you can imagine it looks very different. Don't worry though, you know I'll dive deeper into it and give you more facts about Edward's almighty pintel ha-ha. I hope you have a wonderful week! And I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter! Make sure to leave me a little review, if you have the time!