Chapter 21: Running with NightStalkers.
"Sister, are you sure about this?" Runs asked looking at his beloved twin sister with concern in his eyes.
His beloved twin sister had always been his source of strength growing up, he was the man and he was supposed to always be strong and supposed to be the one to protect everyone around him, but he'd always felt like it was his sister that was the one doing the protecting, Soars-With-Eagles just always had such confidence in everything she did that it was infectious.
"For the millionth time stop worrying brother we'll be fine, the tribe is under attack and we need weapons to help us fight, otherwise the White Legs are going to wipe us all out, you know this as well as I, you saw what happened to father or did you forget?" Soars said turning to glare at him with such fire in her eyes that Runs felt himself shrink under the intensity of it.
"How could I? I was the one who found him like that" he said softly letting his eyes fall to the floor as the images of his father brutalized and mutilated body flashed before his mind's eye from that fateful day.
Spears had been driven through his bruised and battered body from a great many directions forming a kind of scaffolding frame which held him aloft, Runs felt his heartbreak like it was made of fragile coloured glass as he lifted his father's chin and saw that both his eyes and his tongue had been cut from his body before having his mouth and eyelids sewn shut.
A pulse of rage shot through him like an arrow from the darkness, not only had they beaten and tortured him while he was outnumbered and helpless, but they had denied him his peace in the afterlife by stealing both his voice and his soul so that it couldn't pass on and find his spirit guide to take him on to the next life.
Suddenly a hand on his shoulder snapped him out of the dark corner of his mind and he flinched away looking up at Soars and he instantly saw that her expression had softened, "I'm sorry brother, that was not fair I did not mean to hurt you like that, I'm just angry" she said and he nodded.
"As am I sister," he said softly.
"I know and that why we have to do something about it, we have to take a stand, we have to defend ourselves, the White Legs are getting help from those white men so we need to find help for ourselves and we need to defend ourselves and we cannot do that without the weapons of the white man and we can only get those from white men" Soars said confidently.
"I agree but how can you be sure we can trust these people? they are not like us, they care only about shiny things, they have lost their connection to the spirits if they ever had it at all" he said and she nodded.
"Exactly and that we can use to our advantage," she said making Runs sighs heavily, he really did not like having to interact with white men as nothing good ever came from dealing with them.
The journey from their home in Zion into the dead city of white men had taken quite a long time and that had made Runs feel rather antsy and worried, he was worried about what was happening to the tribe in their absence, Runs also worried about what they would find in the dead city as he'd heard all the horror stories from members of the tribe that had been near it and while they frightened him he also found he had a kind of morbid curiosity about the place.
The place was an open tomb, Runs could positivity feel the spirits that lingered here, he could practically hear the screams of the dead when their lives were ended in the blink of an eye, it was like the pure fear and terror were literally burned into the very streets themselves.
Never in his life had Runs felt such an oppressive atmosphere, it was like the very place itself was crushing his lungs and trying to suck his very spirit out of him.
Oddly the place didn't seem to be affecting his sister in the same way, she was so utterly curious about the place, she seemed to want to know everything about everything, her curiosity of the world around her so to her this place was like a massive adventure, as he watched she flitted from building to building looking at everything like a songbird hopping between the branches of a tree.
"Where are we supposed to meet these traders?" Runs asked and Soars reached into the soft tanned radstag leather pouch that hung on her hip, it made Runs smile as he saw it because he had given it to her for her twentieth birthday only two weeks ago while she had given him a beautiful obsidian knife that she had carved by hand.
A knife that was currently hanging on his belt which his hand subconsciously went to and stroked gently, while from the pouch she pulled a folded piece of paper which she opened and looked at it.
"It's a large building that looks like this" Soars said showing him the picture that had been drawn on it with directions written in the language of the white men but while he couldn't read it he could, however, speak a little of it.
Runs took it and looked around himself until he picked out a building that looked exactly like the drawing on the paper and he pointed to it, "There, that one" he said and his sister looked where he was pointing.
"Yeah that one looks good, so let's go!" she said taking the paperback and the pair set off with Soars pulling her brother along by the hand towards the building in the distance.
As they approached the building Runs began to feel like something was very wrong, he could hear distant voices but they didn't sound right, not like white men at all, much deeper and just off, it didn't take them long to find out why.
As they began to approach the building they began to see light glowing between the buildings and the voices grew louder, Runs unsheathed his bow from his shoulder and grabbed his sister's hand placing a finger to his lips before she could open her mouth to ask him what he was doing.
She cocked her head curiously at him and he pointed to his ear then over to the buildings before communicating in the sign language that the tribe used while hunting as t not give away their positions that they should move silently and observe before they go in, she just looked over towards the glow then nodded both crouching down and moving in a silent crouch walk along the wall of the nearest building.
Using the deep shadows the pair managed to make their way around the building by using an alleyway behind it and creeping through the open back door of the building opposite the one they wanted using the place to cover their approach.
Runs moved as silent as a shadow, as an experienced hunter he knew how to stalk his prey as silently as its own shadow, it was part of the reason he'd earned the name he had, the other part was that a pack of feral NightStalkers had taken a liking to him as he'd saved three of its cubs from a yaoigui by grabbing them and diving into the roots of a tree keeping them safe until the huge bear simply got bored and gave up trying to smash through the roots to get to them, at which point Runs simply gave the cubs back to their mother.
Ever since that point the pack would come back to the village and would often leave gifts of small animals they had killed for him and more than once Runs had gone hunting with them as they made incredible hunting dogs for flushing out prey.
The tribal elders and shaman said this was not surprising as his spirit animal was a NightStalker and when on the day of his initiation into adulthood he had taken a vision quest and had actually met them, a giant Nightstalker with the voice of a woman who told him that his life would be filled with great pain but if he was able to endure it not only would he be able to save his tribe from great hardship but that he would go on a great journey that would so him things, teach him thing and just enrich his life in ways he never imagined possible.
Moving silently through the place that looked like once sold clothing of some kind by the fake people stood around in a verity of poses displaying items of rag bare desiccated clothing the pair got up to what had once been a window for viewing the street outside but was now just a frame.
The pair peered through the frame into the street beyond and what they saw made both of their hearts freeze like ice in their chests, across the street in the building where they were meant to be meeting the white skin traders there were a bunch of huge utterly grotesque green creatures.
Runs and Soars both stared at the creatures in utter shock, never in their lives had they imagined such horrors, the things looked like people or at least that they had once been people, but what they were now was a truly awful grotesque mirage of a human being.
That's when the true horror really hit them, they noticed that the group seemed to be eating something while sat around a large fire pit, it was only when one of them lifted up what appeared to be a leg to its large mouth that Runs blood ran as cold as ice.
It was the traders they had killed and were eating the traders.
That's when the scene really began to sink through the layer of shock that had formed in Runs mind, there was blood everywhere, torn clothing and discarded pieces of armour and weapons were littering the ground among the debris, that's also when he noticed the cages.
Stacked against the back wall behind the fire and the makeshift table full of the green creatures were what appeared to be iron cages that looked like they'd been made from bent together metal bars that had been twisted tightly together to form a cage for holding something, though by the look of what the creatures were eating it didn't take a genius to figure out what.
"This is the last humie, we needs to gets more" one of the creatures growled deeply as he threw down what appeared to be an arm bone that clattered across the street towards Runs and Soars position.
"Yes but not many humies come around here anymore, well except for them ones with the spiky hair but thems taste funny, always gives me a bad belly and makes me sees things whens me eats them," another said.
Runs turned to Soars and nudged her arm making her jump and make a squeak noise which he quickly countered by clamping his hand over her mouth.
"What was that?" one of the creatures growled looking around.
"Ahhh probably mole rats again, things always running about in shadows," another said with a dismissive wave of his large green hand.
"We have to go, now!" Runs hissed in his sister's ear and she nodded, the pair of them began to slowly back away from the grim scene but no sooner had runs gone three steps backwards than he bumped into something, something warm.
Before he even had a chance to turn he heard a snarl and with a fluid movement, he shoved his sister clear and dove to the opposite side just as a very large pair of jaws snapped at the air where he had been only a moment prior.
He hit the floor hard but let his momentum carry him into a roll which he barely had time to finish before the creature lunged at him again, this time he actually got a look at it and what he saw filled his heart with horror.
The creature was like some kind of giant hairless dog, but just like the creatures outside it had giant bulging muscles rippling over its entire body, huge strands of thick viscous saliva hung from its grotesque tooth-filled jaws as it glared at Runs with murder filled green eyes.
Runs was used to dealing with vicious predators in the form of the bears of the mountains and the wolves, even the occasional giant rad scorpion or spider that wandered into the valley as well, but this thing was on a whole other level.
Before he even realised his instincts had kicked in his bow was in his hands and an arrow was knocked, he drew the string back and fired sinking the stone-headed broad tipped arrow right into its thick shoulder sending a spurt of greenish blood from the wound.
The creature simply snarled and bit right through the shaft snapping it off before launching itself at him again making him roll out of the way, as it crashed headfirst into one of the displays he turned and fired into its back as fast as he could sticking that many arrows in the large dog's back that it began to look like an oversized porcupine with feathered quills.
But it was the last shot that had the magic touch, the creature reared its head in a howl of either pain or anger he was sure which, but as it did he loosed off his last shot and the arrow sunk itself right into the top of its skull sending the creature slumping down into a heap.
Runs was about to turn to check on his sister when something huge and green slammed into his face like a sledgehammer and his whole world spun and started to go black and grey, the last thing he heard was his sister screaming for him to help her but no matter how hard he tried his muscles refused to move and the blackness won.
When he awoke he was inside one of the large metal cages and his sister was inside the next one over, "Oh thank the spirits you're awake brother, we have to get out of here!" she exclaimed as his mind began to reattach to his body.
He looked around himself and suddenly realized what had happened to them and jumped to his feet dashing the door but as he hit it he realised it was locked up tight with a bent steel bar that he had absolutely no chance of bending straight.
He wrenched and strained at it trying his hardest to get it to budge even a little but it was utterly futile, that's when four of the creatures came up to the cage containing his sister and just stood there smiling at her while licking their lips.
"Hey, green fucks! Leave her alone!" Runs yelled and the four of them turned to him and their grins widened.
"Don't worry little red humie you will get your turn but she looks tastier than you" one of them said before they opened the cage and wrenched his terrified sister out.
"No! Put me down! Let me go!" she yelled as she kicked, fought and bit for her life.
Runs tried his hardest to grab his sister to pull her from their grasp with the hope that she could run for her life from this place but he just couldn't reach, so Runs was forced to watch as they carried his beloved twin to the table in the centre of the room and held her down on the large blood-stained table.
"No don't please! Please don't take my sister from me! Please!" Runs yelled begging for his twin's life but it was for nought, the last thing he saw before one of the creatures lifted a large wicked looking cleaver like blade was her terrified face mouthing 'Save me' to him but he simply couldn't hear the words as his brain shut down as the blade fell.
Runs fell to his knees and he felt his world crashing down around him as he watched his beloved twin screaming in agonized pain as they took her limbs off one by one, he could not hear either her screaming or the sickening wet crunches of the blade falling but he couldn't tear his tear-filled eyes away from his dying sister, he just kept saying "I'm sorry" over and over again but it was the last thing that destroyed his heart completely, somehow she was able to fight through what must have been the most awful pain to mouth "I'll always love you, goodbye my beloved one" before her eyes went glassy and far away, just like that his twin was gone.
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Runs had tears streaming down his face the entire time he was speaking and both Gregory and Seven had stopped massaging their claws to give him their full attention but neither of the claws minded because they too were engrossed in Runs story.
Once he was finished the young man simply broke down and began sobbing into his hands holding his head as tears leaked between his fingers, "She's gone, my beloved twin is gone, I'll never see her again" he sobbed pitifully and Seven looked up noticing Riss was fidgeting incredibly nervously, it was obvious she wanted to try to comfort him but was worried how he would react so he decided to act himself.
He stood up and walked over crouching down in front of him placing a hand on Runs shoulder causing the young native man to look up at him through red puffy eyes, "We're so sorry we didn't reach you in time Runs-with-Nightstalkers, if only we'd got there sooner we might have been able to help, you have my and our uttermost sympathy and condolences on your loss, if it means anything to you some of our group here know the pain of loss very well and I'm sure they are only too happy to offer you any help they can, in fact, we'll all help you any way we can and I think we can also work out some way for us to help your tribe as well" Seven said.
Runs sniffed heavily and looked at him curiously through his puffy eyes, "H-H-How?' he asked.
"Simple we find ourselves in need of a guide through Zion as we're on the run from very nasty people, so put simply you agree to help us and we'll help your tribe and you, trust me you aren't going to get more firepower than we can put down, you'll have a cloud girl battle droid, two proud and noble claws, an invisible human engineer who can make all sorts of things big and small not to mention handsome male claws dreams come true, me a geeky guy in power armour that can take an utter beating but has more than a few tricks up my sleeves like being able to make big sexy claw girls purr like giant kittens among other things and lastly but by no means least Riss the biggest sexiest Nightstalker girl you'll ever meet and trust me she's dynamite at this kind of thing," Seven said trying to cheer Runs up just a little.
"My beloved human tells the truth and you have our utmost sympathies both myself and my beloved brother know what it is to lose one's pack, it is a scar that never fully heals, but it is one that came make you a stronger person, it can show you who you really are," Visa said.
But it was clear that no amount of words were going to make the pain of losing someone so dear to him away, but he did seem at least interested in what Seven was saying.
"Y-Y-You'd help us? But why? You don't know us or owe us?" he said and Seven just smiled warmly.
To show off for him and to prove his point Seven held out his hand behind him and to Runs widening eyes the large bottle of water levitated off the desk and poured a cup of it before floating over to the utterly amazed Runs and plopping itself in his hands.
"It's whats we do, any enemy of the Enclave is our friend so we'll help you with your White Legs problem and you help us with our getting through Zion not dead problem, deal?" he said and Runs took an amazed sip of his water before nodding.
"Deal," he said and Seven smiled and nodded.
"Good, now get yourself some rest and I'll tell you what I'll even assign Riss here as your personal bodyguard, from this moment on she will be responsible for your protection, she will not leave your side and will look after you ok?" Seven said reaching out and taking the very surprised Riss's hand and placing it in Runs hand making him look up at the surprised NightStalker girl.
"Ummm ok if that's ok with her s-s-she a spirit guardian" Runs said sounding nervous.
"I am not a sssspirit but yessss itssss fine" Riss said smiling warmly at the confused looking human.
"Good then that's settled, Riss will take care of you don't be afraid to lean on her, once we figure out a way out of this place you can take us to your village and we'll speak to your village elders," Seven said and Runs nodded gratefully.
"I need go and see shaman, I-I-I need to know my sister happy where she is, I need to know that's she's passed peacefully to the spirit realm," he said in a very quiet voice and Seven nodded as he stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
He then turned and took his seat back in front of Visa lifting her huge feet into his lap, "Don't worry Runs we'll take good care of you, stick with us for a bit and you'll see this strange little group welcomes everyone and I'm sure your sister is looking down on you right now proud of you for make the right choice to help your people" he said beginning to rub the pair of large clawed feet in his lap making Visa go cross-eyed as the pleasure and relief hit her.
Runs glanced between them and then between Gregory and Ven who was now laid on his front as Gregory was trying his best to replicate Seven's movements on Visa's feet on Ven's and the result was his big Claw boy had gone just as cross-eyed as his sister and was digging his claws into the soft leather chair.
Right on cue both Visa and her brother began to purr like a pair of oversized scaly kittens as their humans diligently pampered them, Wisp rolled over to him and he glanced up in surprise at her like he was embarrassed at getting caught watching them.
"Ahh don't worry about those four they are always like that, they are in love and are not the least bit shy about it, they never spare a thought for us singletons who would grind their teeth to dust in envy, well if we had teeth anyway," she said jokingly.
Visa lifted her head and grinned at her, "Jealous are we Robo girl?' she said and Wisp turned her head on its swivel to face her.
"You bet your bloody tail I am," she said making the big claw smile proudly and laugh.
"A-A-Are y-y-you truly husband and wife?" Runs asked in amazement looking between Seven and Visa and she snapped her attention to him about to shoot him a scathing reply till she saw the pure curiosity in his eyes and her expression softened but before she could open her mouth to reply Seven got there first.
"Yup or the claw equivalent anyway, if I had a priest, a dress and a ring big enough to fit her I'd drag her sexy tail down the alise in a second but seeing as we don't have any of those things I'll take the claw equivalent and proudly and happily call her my life mate to anyone who asks, I'm not ashamed of being with her in any way because other than Gregory how many other humans can say they won the heart of a creature this beautiful," he said without looking up from her feet though he did admit he found it incredibly odd how he knew exactly how a wedding was supposed to work but not his own name.
Visa looked at the top of Seven's head with such pride and love in her eyes she looked like she might actually cry, "Does not bother you that both are not of the same kind?" he asked curiously and this time the four of them answered in pure unison, "Not at all" they all said.
Runs looked so lost and utterly confused, he looked like his entire world was coming apart at the seams and Seven was beginning to wonder if he was beginning to believe he was still locked in that cage stuck in a strange dream.
"Look my friend I know this is all going to seem like you've stepped into a fucking dreamland here, strange people, talking creatures which you've probably never imagined could ever be smart enough to talk let alone speak better English than you do then to only find out that they are paired off with humans, then you see a creature which looks like the living embodiment of your spirit animal whose offering to support and guide you and on top of all that you've lost your beloved twin so all of this is going to feel like your world is collapsing in on itself, but you'll be ok my friend, you just need to take it one small step at a time to get yourself to where you need to be and I promise you we'll help you any way we can," Seven said and Runs looked up at him.
"T-Thank you, you are nothing like I imagined a white man to be, you are very kind and honourable," he said and Seven smiled.
"Thank you Runs," he said.
Runs turned to Riss and looked at her hand which was still holding his, "I sorry for putting myself on to you I not wish to be a burden on you" he said.
"You are not a burden Runssss, you are hurting badly, I am happy to asssissst you, thissss group are good people, SSSSeven there forgave me after I kidnapped him because I thought he wasssss going to hurt me and maybe the otherssss because he issss human, but I sssswiftly realissssed that he issss a good male, he lovessss Visssa very much and he forgave me and brought me with them, now I pay forwardssss the forgivenessss they gave me," she said happily.
This seemed to cheer him up and reassure him somewhat and he sat back in the chair, "So how we get out of here?" he asked and Seven glanced at him.
"Well, that's probably not going to happen tonight, not with all the Ghouls outside, we're gonna have to hold here until they thin out a bit, so we'll take a look around and see if we can find a big enough room for us all to get both security and some sleep," Seven said Wisp waved a hand and he turned to look at her.
"I'll go and take a roll around the place and see if I can find a place, I'll also make sure the place is secure," she said and before he could respond she headed out of the room.
It took her about an hour and when she came back she found that both Seven and Gregory had been pulled into the laps of their very grateful and happy claws who were trying to cuddle them to death while Runs watched them and Riss watched him he was in the middle of telling her all about his beloved sister.
"Looks like we're good guys, the place is surprisingly shut down tight, fuck only knows how this place survived the bombing the way it did but its as tight NightStalkers ass hole" Wisp said and for a moment Riss looked like she was about to explode in argument before realizing halfway through her thought that Wisp had technically paid her a compliment and it would be rather stupid to argue that her ass was loose.
"So while she looked confused Wisp turned to Seven, "Found a place that we can hod and has more than enough room for us all to crash, its on the top level, plus its got pretty big windows that should give us a decent view outside so we can see if the Ghouls are thinning out and if the Enclave show up," she said.
"Alright then let's go," Seven said patting Visa's huge thighs and jumping up making the big claw girl look a little disappointed but when she noticed that when Runs got up Riss grabbed his hand making the surprised human look up at her as she led him towards the door so she followed suit after Seven had climbed into his armour with Ven going one further and scooping the surprised-looking Gregory up in his long arms and carrying him bridal style towards the door.
Wisp led the very odd procession of human loving non-humans up the spiral ramp to the top floor where they found the governors office sat open waiting, Wisp had been right, the room was far larger and far more comfortable looking, as soon as they were inside the closed and braced the door to prevent it being forced open.
The room was spacious with wooden flooring that was covered in large circular rugs that were patterned in what looked to be the American flag colours, to one side was a huge heavy wooden desk with a large comfy chair behind it and down the other side were a collection of armchairs and sofa.
The walls were decorated with a collection of hunting trophies, the heads of deers, bears, wolves all stared back at them in silent judgement and Seven noticed both Riss and Visa staring at them intently.
Visa lifted the head of a bear down of the wall and stared into its glass eyes intently, "I have seen human settlements where they have the heads of my kind mounted on walls like this and even using our horns for things like handles" she said in a quiet solemn voice.
"I too have seen humanssss do sssssuch things, even with their own kind," Riss said staring at a wolf's head intently.
"White legs do such things, they are animals, no worse than animals, at least animals not keep trophies of the innocent they kill and animals only kill to live," Runs said angrily as he looked at the trophies.
Seven exited his armour having used it to further the barricade of the door and moved over to Visa gently embracing from behind, "The only one who will ever touch those beautiful horns and the even more beautiful head they're attached to is going to be me" he said softly and Visa's tail swished back and forth banging in between his legs.
He very gently kissed her back then moving around her taking the bear's head from her and placing it on the desk next to her before reaching up and gently stroking her horns, she lowered her head and gently pressed her forehead to his, "As my hands are the only ones that will touch you" she purred softly.
"Personally I think putting up hunting trophies like this is the realm of those who need to overcompensate for something, like look ladies, look how big and alpha I am looking how big my dick must be, I killed a big dangerous unarmed creature with a high powered weapon from a distance not giving it a chance to fight back aren't I awesome, by that fucking logic both Gregory and Seven must be fucking huge in that department, they both bagged themselves living breathing sentient apex predators who would kill for them and die to protect them, know which one I'd prefer," Wisp said taking down a wolf' head and looking at it.
"Trust me when I say my human has absolutely nothing to be ever ashamed of in that area he makes me smile just thinking about him like that" Visa said grinning at Seven who felt his whole face heat up like it was on fire.
"Ditto," Ven said grinning at the equally embarrassed Gregory.
That's when Seven decided to turn the tables a little, "Well who the hell would want to have a Claw head mounted on a plaque, if the claw is dead you can't make them scream in ecstasy now can you?' Seven said grinning at Visa whose tail began to swish so badly she nearly knocked over a coat stand with it and he also saw her scales darken somewhat as she blushed.
Ven laughed out loud and then grinned at Gregory, "I knew there was a reason I liked him and knew he was a good fit for my crazy tail sister, he always speaks the truth in the bluntest way possible and very few can make her blush like that while making her tail swish at the same time" he said.
"You forgot to make her scream like that" Wisp said making Ven laugh again while Visa glared at them both while hugging Seven so tightly against her that his head was jammed between her chest swells so he couldn't join in.
"Is that jealousy I hear Robo girl?" Visa shot and Wisp laughed as she rolled across the room.
"Fucking right it is," she said which caught Visa off guard and she stuttered making Ven laugh again.
"Oh we so utterly lucked out with these humans sister," he said and Visa sighed and then looked down at Seven who had gone rather quiet as his head was still stuffed between her two scaly breasts.
"I agree brother, I agree," she said hugging him tightly.
The group decided to sit down on the heavy couches and make some food, while both Gregory and Ven were cooking while laughing together with Wisp, Riss was sat next to Runs and was trying her best to talk to him.
Seven was stood looking out of the heavy-duty bulletproof glass window over the city below, the crowd of Ghouls below them was utterly incredible, it looked like the zombie apocalypse below them but on the plus side not only could they not get inside but neither could anyone else trying to hunt them.
Fortunately, the window only covered the half of the room where the main desk was so the part where the team was sat using the cooker that Gregory had knocked up using a couple of steel bins using Ven's incredible strength and razor-sharp claws to build, so none of the dim light from the very small fire being used to cook was leaking out.
Visa slid up behind him and wrapped her long arms around him, "You look thoughtful my love what's wrong?" she asked.
Seven glanced up at her then over at Runs who actually seemed to be smiling now, it seemed either Ven's sense of humour or something Riss had done had cracked through his outer shell somewhat.
"Sorry my love I was just feeling sorry for young Runs there, I couldn't imagine what that poor guy went through watching his beloved twin die like that before his eyes, that's a pain I never even want to imagine and it also made me think about you and Ven and how the pair of you must have felt losing your pack the way you did, it actually made me think that in a way I and Wisp are actually kinda lucky in a way, no family that we know of to loose, a weird blessing in disguise," he said.
Visa hugged him tightly and nuzzled him and kissed the back of his neck, "You truly are a kind male you know that?" she said.
"Seven just smiled and kissed Visa's hands, "That must be why I feel compelled to help him any way I can," he said and Visa chuckled softly.
"Yes my soft-hearted beautiful male, that's exactly why," she said before she turned him and gently led him back to the group to eat.