Realm of the Rogues

Chapter VI

I let out a little groan as the male lay me down on the ground. I am scared to look down on myself, scared of what I will see.

"Don't worry, I have brought you to safety now. The wound in your abdomen looks pretty bad right now, but at least all your organs are still intact, and none of them are falling out". He makes a little awkward laugh, trying to lighten up the mood, but I don't really have the power to join him.

"You shouldn't try to sit upright now, your stomach muscles haven't healed yet, but I will go down to the stream and get all of this blood off of me, and then I'll be back, okay?". He looks at me, waiting for an answer, so I manage to make a tiny nod. He nods back in affirmation and puts a blanket over my body.

It takes a second before I realize, and then I am mortified; I must still be naked. The last thing I wore to cover myself up was this very blanket, and he just put it over me, which must mean that it was off of me and that he has seen me... naked... I can feel the blood leave my face as I feel the humiliation wash over me. If I had the strength, I would run away or dig my own grave, but I am stuck here waiting for him to come back.

It doesn't take long before he returns. I can hear him before I can see him. The little piddle paddle from his wet feet gets closer as he walks over to stand above me. A drop of water from his hair falls on my face, and I try to wipe it away.

"Oh, sorry. Here let me". He squats down beside me and dries away the drop with his thumb slowly. I stare into his eyes, drawn by the dark pigmentation in them. He looks at me as well and we make eye contact. I swiftly look away and feel how I start to blush.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...", I begin, but he interrupts me. "Don't worry about it, I'm just happy I can help". I look back at him, and we smile at each other for a moment. Suddenly he looks away and around him like he got embarrassed from the interaction.

"Well, I took a cloth with me and wet it, so if you are comfortable with it, I would like to wash the blood off of you?". How romantic... I nod, but then stop as I remember, that he would have to see me naked then. I know he already has, but it's different when I'm aware of it. As if he had read my thoughts he says "Oh, don't worry, no need to be embarrassed about your body! Actually, if it is a comfort, I am naked as well...". He blushes a bit before he continues, "I was in quite the hurry to aid you both with that prick at the camp and then with those two warriors... You have been through quite a lot today, huh?". I manage to make a self-pitiful smile and giggle a bit while nodding.

"Well, in my hurry I destroyed my clothes, just like you, so we are in the same boat. And besides, it's about midnight, so I can't see your body that much anyway, even with my wolf senses". He makes eye contact with me once again, waiting for my approval so that he can wash me.

"Alright then, go ahead", I muster out of my dried lips. He looks at my face for a second longer, making sure that I meant it. Then he nods and pulls off the blanket slowly, making sure that it isn't stuck to the wound in my abdomen. He gently pats and strokes the cloth around the wound, being very careful not to cause me any more pain than I am already in.

"What is your name?" I ask him as he washes me. He looks up at me surprised.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot to tell you! I'm Kai. And I know that you are Ena", he continues to wash the wound on my shoulder.

"My name is actually Athena; Ena is just my nickname". I close my eyes a bit, as the wound is pretty sore.

"Athena... That's a pretty name..." he says slowly and dreamingly. Something in me likes to see him deep in concentration with all his focus on me. The muscles in his arms move elegantly under the skin as he strokes the cloth over my body.

"Well, who is this?", Hera asks still sounding like she isn't completely by her senses yet. "This is Kai", I answer, very happy and relieved that she is still alive. "He is gorgeous.". I can hear the same kind of dreamingly tone in her voice, as when Kai had spoken just before. It seems it's first at this point, that Hera notices the state of my body, as she frantically asks "What happened to you?! Are you okay? How long was I gone for, for this to happen?". I'm too exhausted to tell it all, so I just communicate with my memories instead of words. I can feel her growing uneasy at the pictures flashing between us.

I feel ready to retreat into myself and lick my wounds, just as Hera did earlier, so I ask her if she is healed enough to take over. She believes she is, and I can hear, that she she feels bad for me, but that she is also trying to hide her excitement about talking to Kai. I just expel a single chuckle and shake my head mentally.

"Kai, my wolf would like to meet you. Her name is Hera, you defended her earlier, and I think she would like to thank you personally", I begin, not exactly knowing how to explain, that Hera isn't actually me, but another identity within me, but Kai seems to accept. I'm not sure if he understands, but he raises no objections.

"I would like to meet her too," he says politely.

"I will just warn you, that this means that I will shift, as Hera takes control". It didn't seem like he quite understood this.

"Your body is still too damaged to perform a shift" he objects, but I assure him that it's fine. He looks at me with a weird incredulous look but then decides to shrug. "Alright then, I trust you. Bring her out!", and with that said, I retreated to the far back of my mind, looking forward to getting some rest. I could feel my body ache, as it changed into Hera's body, but it was nothing compared to the pain I had endured throughout the day. I decided to leave Kai and Hera to it, and just drift away, hoping they won't do anything stupid in the meantime.