Last to Fall

ch 13

Azriel~

As morning came I awoke before the suns completely lit the sky, the fire was mere embers now leaving the cave a bit chilly. Looking to the other side of the cave curled up in the furs was the small human female…

My tail anxiously slammed against the ground as I watched her sleep. What am I going to do?...

Sighing I got up and left the cave to scout the area. I needed to take some time and think about my next move.

~~~~~~

As I came back to the cave I noticed the female emerging from the cave, curious I watched from the treeline as she walked into the forest with clear frustration on her face and sleep in her eyes…i followed her out a ways until she stopped to look at some of the tree dwellers who were chattering along not caring for her presence.

As she grabbed a stone I realized she meant to make them stop chattering. This woman is a fool… before she could throw the rock I grabbed her arm, startling her in the process.

She dropped it and the tree dwellers above quieted down some, watching closely, they wanted to see if I was a predator… I waited until they continued about with their chirps finding that there was no danger.

I looked down at the woman sternly and she acted like a scolded kit. She doesn’t even realize the tree dwellers of this nature are beneficial…

There’s no denying she will die if I leave her like this…

Mumbling a curse I went back to the hunting cave to put everything back in place for its next resident. It was a common courtesy to leave the hunting caves clean and with resources in case anyone who was far from home needed to rest.

The female watched me as I gathered my things and walked out, she was quick to follow and I sighed realizing I had no choice at this point… this was going to be a long trip…

After a few hours of walking it was clear the human was growing weary, no doubt due to the lack of protein she must have… we hadn’t even traveled very far but her slow pace was becoming even slower…

Groaning, I stopped and went back over to her.

She looked at me confused and I glanced around the area to make sure nothing harmful was around, pointing to a large tree I had her sit underneath it.

“Stay here…”

Her face morphed to that of more confusion and I tried to gesture with my hands that I didn’t want her to move. Once she seemed to understand I walked off to search the area for some food. It didn’t take long for me to find some kabiet.

Although the fruit wasn’t ideal to eat on a regular basis and was very sweet, I know it was at least something the female would eat, so she could get some of her energy back…

As I came back I noticed the female crying by the tree, this took my attention and I ended up stepping on a branch, startling her. She got up in a panic, clearly scared…stepping out of the treeline her gaze found me and I thought more tears would fall from her eyes, but she suddenly ran towards me and to my shock…embraced me.

I froze on the spot as my tail flicked around wildly behind me. Her small frame was wrapped tightly around my torso as she buried her face in my chest. This was not something I ever thought I’d encounter… a mated female was embracing me and was clearly upset by my temporary absence to the point she cried…

After a moment she seemed to realize that I was not her mate and pulled away, seeming ashamed. I still don’t know what to think. Was she scared I would leave her?...the last time I left her she acted the same way… why is she like this…has her mate neglected to care for her?...

The thought that a male would be so irresponsible with their female drew out deep anger inside of me. Shaking off the shock from before I held out the food for her as an offering.“eat.” she seemed unsure as I gave her the offering again. “Eat…”

She hardly hesitated before taking the kabiet… sighing as thoughts were swirling through my head, we moved back to the tree and sat down to eat.

She quickly finished off the first and second fruit, and I watched her quietly. She’s frail, hungry, scared, and alone out here… once she noticed my gaze I turned away not wishing to show my concern. She is not mine, I shouldn’t be showing so much emotion towards her, yet with everything, I’ve seen… I’m having my doubts…

“Ah-lee-ta” she spoke up, grabbing my attention. I looked back at her as she gestured to herself and repeated her words.

Was this her name?...looking away I thought carefully about this situation. I will be going against tradition, and our way of life if I get too close to her…do I even dare? Would it be worth the trouble?

She seemed to grow sad as I turned away. Sighing I attempted to repeat her name until I got it right. Alita… her name is alita… I then introduced myself properly and it only took her two tries to get my name down. “Azriel!” She spoke up excitedly.

I watched her reactions for a brief moment and stood up, we needed to continue forward… she seemed so happy after the simple exchange…

She stood up to follow me and we continued forward on our journey. My mind was in turmoil as we walked, despite this, I did my best to slow down my pace so she could keep up…

I had so many questions but it wasn’t my place to ask them…many moments went by as my mind was conflicted and I did not notice the tree dwellers had gone silent until I heard the clicking…

Dread washed over me as I stopped in my tracks. The forest was quiet… too quiet…

Alita was trying to catch up and I could faintly hear the approaching Draven…the hunter… I rushed back towards her and pushed her down behind cover, to where we were out of sight. She started to protest and I covered her mouth pleading with her to hush.

This was bad… Why was there a draven out here during the day?!.. As it grew closer I tried to press my body Lower to the ground along with Alita’s to keep as still as possible and to not be seen.

Watching through the bushes I could see it coming out into the open. Looking around the area… alita followed my gaze and instantly froze. The look on her face was that of pure horror. It was clear she had not seen a draven before… I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad one…

It scoured the area in search of its next meal and I held my breath as it drew closer to our hiding spot. If Alita was not frozen in fear at this moment with my hand over her mouth I’m sure she would have screamed…

As soon as it had come, the draven left the area… I waited until the familiar chorus of the tree dwellers filled the air, before standing up. Alita was shaken and truthfully, so was I… “stay here..” She understood and nodded, before hugging her knees.

I scouted the area to make sure the draven was gone before we continued forward on our journey. We needed to get somewhere safe before nightfall…especially with it in the area…

“Alita…” I called for the female and she was quick to come over to me as I gestured to the forest in the opposite direction from where the draven went.

She glanced at the sky and understood we needed to keep going.

As we walked I focused on taking a more subtle route for her to walk on, the coverings on her feet did not help her pace at all, she would slip and slide on smooth surfaces quite easily. My kind only wears furs and snow boots in the cold seasons yet here she was covered nearly head to toe… do humans even have toes?

Realizing what I was just thinking about I shook my head. What am I doing?!

“Azriel!” I looked back as the human called for me and ran off to the side away from sight, now what is she doing…

I walked back over and turned the corner around a tree to see her crouched by a dart berry bush. One blue dart berry in hand ready to eat the extremely potent plant.

“No!” I rushed over grabbing her hand making her drop it. She is worse than a curious kit! She doesn’t even know how deadly dartberrys are!? She looked at me confused once again. “No,” I repeated.

Looking at the bush I moved a branch aside to see none other than a dead haisu. She was at least quick to realize that this berry would kill her…her intelligence was not what needed to be questioned, she understood these things easily, she was just inexperienced and uneducated in the ways of hunting and surviving…

I looked her up and down and glanced at her braid once more. Her mate is supposed to be with her, keeping her safe from harm and showing her how to survive and how to tell what’s edible and what’s not. Her mate is supposed to be protecting her.

So why does it seem like she’s been abandoned… I’ve yet to find anything to cause such a thing…so why… the thought made me angry.

Huffing in irritation I stood up and motioned for her to follow as we continued to walk. This isn’t right… if her mate isn’t willing to even teach her the basics then they do not deserve this female…

After a few steps alita called out my name once more.“azriel lefk!” Looking back I noticed she was holding a strange silver stick that seemed to glow… I’ve seen other humans with that thing before but I never understood what it was. Cautiously I stepped over and looked at it carefully… the lines on the face of the glowing part looked… familiar….

She excitedly spoke in her strange language that I couldn’t understand and looked at me with a smile on her face, that made my breath hitch in my throat for a moment.

“Aquala! Aye nea aquala!”

She pointed to a line on the object in her hand then pulled out another strange object from her bag of mysteries. Moving it around I could hear there was water stored inside of it… she wants water?... Looking at the other object I realized it was a map…

“Aquala?” I repeated. She nodded excitedly and I looked up to the sky.

“We can’t get water now, it’s almost night we need to hide…”

She looked at me confused and I pointed to the sky to show the last sun was setting and that we needed to continue. It took her a moment but she nodded and put the items back in her bag. We continued walking until we reached a large tree covered in vines.

It wasn’t a hunters cave but it would suffice for now…with all those strange leathers on she shouldn’t get too cold tonight…

Testing the strength of the vines I urged her to climb. She looked up at the tree and then at me surprised and hesitant. She’s scared to climb up?... Sighing I looked at the tree and strapped my spear to my backside. I then kneeled down and offered her my backside, there’s no point delaying our ascent up because she for some reason can’t climb…

She was hesitant to climb onto my back but decided it would be better than staying down on the ground at night.

She wrapped her arms around me and I helped her by grabbing her legs to wrap them around my waist. Her legs are so small…and squishy?

Shaking the thought from my mind I grabbed onto the vines and ascended upwards into the tree. Alita’s grip tightened on me as I climbed higher. she’s scared of heights…

as I climbed I found the sleeping nets secured to a large limb, and moved over to stand atop of it. “alita…” I crouched down for Alita to remove herself from my backside. She was clinging to me tightly, afraid to fall…

She moved herself off and stepped back as I stood up and turned to look at her. Her gaze met my own as I stared at her with my tail angrily swinging around behind me.

What use is a male who doesn’t care for their mate? Who doesn’t protect and teach their lover of the potential dangers of the forest before sending them out? Even if her being here wasn’t intentional, she would have been shown all of these survival skills prior to whatever happened before she arrived here!

“Az-?” I pushed her back against the tree and she squeaked in surprise before looking up at me. I do not care if it’s not my place to question another pairing…

the elders may scold me as much as they want, this isn’t right… and this female does not deserve to suffer due to another male’s ignorance and neglect!

Grabbing the tie holding her braid together, I removed it from her mane, letting her hair flow freely. She did not even protest…

Sniffing the tie I could smell the scent of whatever male had braided her hair, and I growled before tossing it aside. Alita is no longer bound to him, I will make sure of it… she seemed surprised, but still said nothing…she must believe that my actions are just…

Turning away I untied the nets that were secured to the branch and set them up for us to sleep. I crawled into one of the sleeping nets then helped her into her own. I watched Alita as she inspected her now free locks. Long white hair like that could cause issues for her, now that it is not secure…

Pulling out a small dagger from my belt I showed her she could use it to cut her mane like most kits would but she refused… I sighed in turn, most females wouldn’t have to cut their hair but she’s out in the wilds now, not in the safety of her tribe or camp…

Putting the blade away I laid back in the sleeping net and alita did the same, watching me for a moment before calling my name. “Azriel…”

I looked over so she knew she had my attention. “Maneth kyu” she spoke quietly in her language. I wasn’t positive of her words’ meaning but I had a relatively good idea…

“Sleep” I spoke before closing my eyes to rest, feeling a bit content with what I had done…

She is free now… I will promise her that much…