.: Considering what I want the end goal to be for this backstory, I need these two characters to grow a connection with each other. I can't do it fast or not have conflict mixed in. Trying to find a balance will be challenging. I also need the plot to carry on smoothly, and that requires not lollygagging on things. I think the pace will start shifting after this. We shall see. :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 46:

The Wolf Woman: Bonded

Clouds started to overhang the mountains for rain. It created a humid environment. After Cherokee left to tend to the tribe more, Kiyaya brought Lakota underneath the largest tree she could find so they could take cover. But in this forest, the trees were no match for her. The downpour that arrived did not spare her. The tree's branches bowed from the force of the curtain of rain, wetting her fur.

Lakota did not share the chill seeping into her bones. He was back in her cleavage where it was warmest and driest. While she leaned back against the tree, her arms crossed her stomach to squeeze her breasts closer, leaving him suspended. He hated to admit he was comfortable. Being this intimately close to a woman had never happened to him before. If the rumbling thunder and blinding lightning bolts streaking from cloud to cloud were absent, he probably would have drifted to sleep.

But when his eyelids drooped, something made him open them fully again. Finally, he just looked up at the underside of her triangular jaw, not feeling scared of what she could do to him anymore. "Kiyaya," he said for the first time ever.

She tilted her head down toward him in an attempt to make eye contact. Her wet black nose gently touched his scalp, and she admired how he was doing better than she currently was. "Hm?"

"Was seeing untreated wounds all it really took to leave?"

"Not the entire reason," she disclosed. "Cherokee was so angry about what happened to you-teia. She screamed at me about how your people just wanted to be left in peace, but the Marines refused. So, I didn't like how they were treating you-teia, and I didn't like how they lied to us about why they were fighting for this land. It was…greed."

He listened with intrigue. The invaders always seemed to be mindless followers who did everything but think for themselves. Kiyaya actually broke the stereotype and exhibited the courage and bravery to break away from the majority.

"I don't know. It just didn't feel right to me. You-teia are the victims here." She lifted a hand toward him to stroke her fingers over his head and down his shoulder. Feeling it made him want to grimace because he felt like a child being doted on by his mother. He was no child. He was a Lun'aecho warrior! He was also a grown man. If she found him cute simply because he was smaller than her, then that was straight up insulting.

Not knowing his thoughts about her love language of physical touch had her continue ignorantly. She snuggled him and rubbed the side of her muzzle against him.

"Hey, cut it out," he complained.

"Oh, sorry," she retracted, leaving him alone. "I thought you-teia liked it."

"W-What?"

"Well, you-teia are turning red."

Hearing that made his blush spread throughout his entire face.

She giggled. "You lesser minks are funny."

He indignantly looked away just to sink deeper into her cleavage. This embarrassment made him want to end the conversation completely.

"I don't mean it in a bad way." Her wet nose poked his cranium one last time, and then she leaned back to reinforce his cushion by crossing her arms again. "You-teia are nothing like the minks back on Zou, but that's what I like the most."

He lightly exhaled as he prepared to be decent company. "Why would our kind be better than yours?"

"I didn't say that. I just meant that…your ways are different. We serve under a duke. You-teia serve each other. We live in a small civilization. You-teia have all this space. We devote our lives to building families. You-teia devote your lives to becoming strong warriors. Things like that."

The vibrations of her voice soothed him when a crack of thunder sounded abruptly. The Lun'aecho excluded her from their factions, but she kept her voice steady about them and even praised them. It was a strange contradiction. "I'm sorry if they've been unkind to you," he shared.

"Some are just scared. I mean, look at me. I'm a big girl. And I'm a wolf mink. I don't blame them for not trusting me. That's why I stayed over here by myself with you. They know I'm here. I kind of thought them getting used to me from a distance would settle their nerves."

"They didn't isolate you?" he asked, surprised.

"No. That was my decision. It's been just you-teia and me for a while. And yes, I did get bored when you-teia were recovering. Lots of napping, singing to you, thinking of stories to tell you and how to give you an apology that you deserve."

He stayed quiet. For one, her admitted loneliness explained why she was talkative and touchy. For two, he could tell she was earnest in upholding people's honor. She felt that he deserved a verbal apology and proof of how much she meant it by personally supervising his recovery. If he was being honest with himself, he did not know if he could forgive her just yet. He did not like the situation he was in.

But it could be worse. He could be cold, hungry, or stuck with a healer who would not go to such lengths for him. Instead, he was just sore. Being lodged between a pair of furry breasts was not a bad deal. Depending on how things turned out, he might either forgive her or resent her. For now, he was open to making their union cordial.

"Stories, huh?" he replied. "Made up stories or life stories?"

She smiled. "Maybe I can make some up after I run out of life stories to tell."

"Alright. Start at the beginning."

"Very well."

The storm battered them a little bit more, but soon they were left with a little sprinkle that allowed her to lay down completely. When the clouds passed over, they showed how late in the evening it had become. Peace was restored in the mountains. The Lun'aecho people were granted a good night's sleep. Lakota may have gotten more than enough sleep, but he was not spared from how seducing it was.

Kiyaya tested if he was still listening by growing quiet in her tales. He was so still against her sternum, and his breathing was deep and slow. There was no telling what truly lulled him. It was somewhat comforting to think she was the cause. Thus, she decided to join him. Her snout reached down one last time to press against his cranium, except she also puckered her lips to gently kiss him. It was her way of blessing him with sweet dreams. Maybe he would even dream about the things she spent all day rambling about.

The idea of an immeasurable being that stood so tall that its peak was obscured among clouds mystified Lakota. He had never seen or heard of an elephant before: a gray-skinned mammal with ivory tusks, leafy ears, and a nose as long as the length of its body. It walked in the vastest body of water, and regardless of its unknown depths, it never tripped or showed its feet. It was a dying species, but that did not stop the few that remained from carrying on.

He pictured it in his dreams. Moving so slowly because of its size, yet he was not in danger as he stayed level with its highest set of knee joints. Zunesha was its name. An island called Zou resided up on its back, which housed the Mokomo Dukedom. Kiyaya's home. She and the small group from the Mink Tribe came so far, traveling months just to get to the nameless island that the Lun'aecho Tribe inhabited.

Now she was here, letting Lakota sit on her shoulder so that she could take him with her as she walked the forest. She gently pushed aside thick branches to not break them so she could pass through. He, too, was spared from being whacked. His core felt tight as he stayed up straight, using her hair strands and fur to keep leverage.

The wolf woman stepped close to a faction's campsite, startling the younger ones. She halted as they scurried away to their caregivers. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said lightheartedly. "Don't worry. I'm going to go this way." Then she diverted her direction away from them to ease them. No huge monster was going to squash them today.

Lakota looked over his shoulder as they left the vicinity. Some watched inquisitively. Rumors spread throughout the mountains of a huge wolf demon holding one of their warriors as a hostage. They expected something more ferocious, not something that could speak with a docile tone. The warrior also sat on her shoulder so casually that he appeared to have chosen to be carried. The truth was that he slipped too much when she walked, so he could not enjoy the safe haven that was her cleavage. Her right shoulder worked just fine in exchange.

Today felt like a good time to move around. Kiyaya offered to take him on a walk. She may not have said it out loud, but it was obvious that she had no clue where she was going. The river was long gone; it was a landmark that she used as a compass. Without it, she was lost, but she had him. Her masked disorientation amused him. "How good is your sense of smell?" he inquired, wanting to see if that was her tool for this.

"I can smell a certain distance when it comes to things I'm familiar with, but this forest just smells like a whole jumble of scents," she explained. "The only thing I can definitely detect is that you-teia are due for another bath."

Taken aback, he lifted an arm to take a whiff.

She tittered at his reaction. "It doesn't surprise me. The last one I gave you-teia was a week ago."

"You gave me a bath?" he reiterated with mortification.

"Sure did."

His cheeks burned. "With your…tongue?"

She tittered louder. It was taking longer than it should have for him to see that minks only looked like wild animals, not acted like them. Grooming with tongues was not an activity they participated in. "No. I dunked you in the river."

She caressed his limp body with a single hand, carefully submerging him shallow enough to prevent his wounds from touching. The cold temperature did not stir him in the slightest. Her free hand gently cupped water to drip it on his forehead and neck. The somberness that manifested as a lump in her throat, it felt like he was never going to wake up because his condition was slightly worsening.

"You-teia were running a fever. I wanted to cool you down."

"O-Oh."

"And yes, I saw everything."

His eyes immediately went completely white, and his jaw clenched from even deeper embarrassment. She already made him feel small. The last thing he wanted was for her to perceive him as small. "Why?" he choked.

"It was for a good reason!" she defended. "Besides, I like your birthmarks. There's no need to be ashamed of them."

He instinctively rubbed the back of his neck where a patch of pale flesh was visible. Nobody paid it much attention, although children asked questions throughout his life. Only a small number of similar patches were sparse along his torso and thighs, so not many could see.

Her hand reached to give him a little hug. "Is there anything fun you-teia haven't done in a while?"

His cheek momentarily bunched from her touch. The warmth bestowed upon him quickly vanished when she let him go. Considering that most of his life was spent being a warrior and facing duties with the label, there was not much room for fun. But somehow, the laughter he heard and expressed in the past brought a memory with it. Back when they were children, he and Cherokee. One of his favorite ones when they were too young to understand or engage with external affairs.

"Have you ever rolled down a hill?" he asked.

Zou was an island completely covered by rainforest and the dukedom's city, so barren land that was not Zunesha itself was unheard of. "No."

"It's pretty fun when you're a kid. The only problem is it's outside these mountains."

She paused in her walking and reached up to pull apart branches. The sky was still cloudy, but sunlight streamed into her face. "Would we go out far or stay close?"

"Stay close. We can go to the bottom."

"Then let's just make sure no Marines are nearby." She offered more hair for him to hold on to, which he accepted inquisitively. Her abrupt sprinting forced him to grab tighter as the solid foundation he was sitting on was no longer stable. Her stomps resonated through the forest. They served as a warning for warriors, who stopped dead in their tracks just to see the rumored wolf woman dash by with some childish giggling.

She hiked up an incline in a matter of minutes. When she realized she was going down, she slowed down. The trees would thin out for a change in biome. If a battalion of Marines happened to be close by, her stark white fur would be hard to miss. Causing problems was something she wanted to avoid, so she was careful to scout a little bit. Lakota was lifted above the trees so he could check the countryside for anything moving or suspicious. All he saw was yellowing grass blowing gently in the breeze along with a giant prairie dog off in the distance.

After he disappeared back down, she poked her head out to double check. Then they both barely emerged from the forest. The decline they were on was not very steep or had an abrupt flat bottom, but she could still feel her ankles angle themselves forward to hold her up straight. "Is this hill good enough?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," he replied. "I don't think I can demonstrate without hurting myself, so you'll have to figure it out."

"I can figure it out!" she defended, gazing down at what she was up against. Rolling was not hard. It was something she did when fighting if the situation called for it. She settled him on the ground and proceeded to lift her hands above her head. The technique she liked to use involved a single roll and quickly returning to her feet without losing her balance. It was much easier to do on a level surface, but she was up to the challenge. With confidence, she propelled her arms and head over her waist and legs to perform a graceful roll. One foot instinctively pressed in front of the other to catch herself, but gravity fought against her. She rolled again, and again, and then she realized she could not stop.

The Lun'aecho warrior wanted to stop her at first but failed to utter a critique in time. That was not the type of rolling he was referring to. He slapped a hand against his forehead. Instead of being annoyed or frustrated, though, he laughed. Kiyaya cried out when she could not stop, and then she awkwardly sprawled like a starfish to finally skid to a halt. Seeing it only entertained him further.

She felt dizzy when she sat up. But the sound of his laughter directed her where to look. Debris and dirt covered her fur. It was not her finest moment. After brushing some of it off, she hiked back up to him. "I can't tell if you-teia are making fun of me or like rolling that much."

"Are you okay?" he asked in the middle of his joviality.

"Of course I am!"

"Good. Now let me show you the real way to do it." He turned himself before laying down on his back, and then tried to do a single roll despite not having the core to do it.

Kiyaya watched him try to no avail. Something about it got her holding back her own laughter, like he was trying so hard to do a simple task but could not due to his injury. It felt very wrong to laugh at him, but she could not help it.

He unfortunately heard it and stopped. "Are you making fun of me?!"

"It's just so sad," she murmured, trying to make it seem like she was on the verge of tears instead. Regardless, she laid down next to him and immediately felt the hill wanting to drag her down. "Ohh," she vocalized in understanding.

"Exactly. Arms up."

She held them out in front of her to rest on the ground, too.

"Now off you go." He pushed her side to get a move on since he could not join her.

She went ahead and started rolling, feeling The sides of her hips hit the ground with every rotation. Something about the speed she picked up and seeing her surroundings blur got her laughing and feeling the thrill. Lakota sat back up to watch. Seeing her do it the right way pleased him. It was such a simple activity that could keep children busy for a while. Kiyaya may have never done it until today, but he still doubted she would find it just as fun.

She stopped at the bottom with a few labored breaths. Not long after that, she was back with him. "Do it with me," she insisted.

Without stating the obvious, he motioned to his bandages. The last thing he wanted was to injure himself again.

"You'll be fine." She gathered him into her hands. As long as she had him, he would not be harmed. Laying down again, she asked an important question. "Do you-teia trust me?"

"Kind of."

"You'll trust me more after this." Secure in her grasp but not being squeezed, and he would have the same experience as she did. When she rolled, he was out over her head. The ground never met him. Still, he saw the sky and grass blur with her, and he was transported back to that memory from long ago. Kiyaya laughed when she heard him laugh. This was what freedom felt like. No war, no arbitrary responsibilities from others. They simply wanted to do something, and they did it.

When they reached a stop at the bottom, Kiyaya laid on her back and lifted him into the air. "See? Nothing bad happened to you-teia."

"Your turn."

"For what?"

"Pick something fun to do."

She lowered him to look into the sky, and quickly noticed the exposed stone of the closest mountain's peak. It was so high up that nature would not live on it. One of the best events to happen in her life was leaving Zou to come here because she made a leap of faith. Zunesha was much taller than that peak, but she never felt more alive than that time. "You'll have to trust me again," she mischievously said.

Hovering in her palm, he wondered what exactly would make that be articulated. That was, until he was taken all the way up the face of the mountain. He hugged the side of her neck with fear festering in his gut. Peering down only made his fears greater. The ground was so far away. The Lun'aecho never climbed this far. There was nothing to gain from it. All he knew about Kiyaya's desire was that she wanted a good view.

The bare rock was not hard for her to traverse. If anything did give way, it was so small that it did not affect her efforts. When her fingers curled over the top, she smiled with satisfaction. "We made it," she announced, pulling them up to carefully turning so she could sit.

Lakota refused to leave his position. His face was buried in her fur, and his hands clutched her neck tight.

"Take a look."

"No thanks."

"But it's beautiful. You're missing out."

Reluctantly, he turned his head. Against the wind that struck them compared to when they were grounded, he squinted. There was so much blue in his vision. The ground was a mixture of yellow and green grass, and orange sands. They failed to see the coast since it grayed out of sight. Still, Lakota was able to identify a herd of wild bison in the distance and see birds circle the atmosphere beneath them. He had never seen his home in this manner. He had never imagined it would look so magnificent.

"I like this view a lot more than Zunesha's," Kiyaya conveyed. "The ocean looks like a lifeless void. Not this place."

Using her fur as a holster, he shakily turned to hang both legs over her shoulder. If he could stand up, he would have. One gloomy thought he had was how much land there was, and how little humans lived on it. The Lun'aecho were once expanded and varied, now reduced to those who lived in the mountains. Maybe if the Marines were reasonable, they could claim the outskirts while the remaining Lun'aecho people stayed inside. If anything, that would be an ideal compromise.

Kiyaya gazed out as far in the distance as she could. She noticed something barely penetrating through the gray. Watching carefully, she noticed it continue to come and grow wider. Her Observation Haki could not reach that far, but it became abundantly clear what it started to look like.

"Lakota," she voiced with some tension.

"What?"

"I wanted to stay up here with you-teia longer, but I think we need to find Cherokee."

"Why?"

She pointed straight ahead to the mass. "I think they've come for your mountains."

Hearing it instilled panic in him. He noticed the mass, too. "Marines?"

"I think so. We need to prepare your people." She pulled him from her shoulder and grasped the pointed peak next to them to stand up. "Trust me once more," she requested, holding him up to her face. "I won't bring harm to you."

Confused, he did not reply in time. She secured him in her grasp and leaped off.