"What are you?" He asks me, breaking the silence. I am quite shocked by this question. Mostly because I don't even know how to answer it.
"Werewolf. I think... And you are a vampire," I state. He nods.
"You don't smell like a werewolf." He lifts his...
Kai and I sit beside each other. We aren't talking, just sitting in silence. I am fiddling around with some grass, pulling it out of the ground, and cutting the straws into smaller pieces with my nails. I have my back up against Hera, who is still asleep. This way she provides me with some much-needed warmth all the while I'm still able to feel her heartbeat through my back, in case it should change. I believe it's close to dawn. I look down at my hands and curse in my head at how green my fingers are now. My arms and legs are also black from dried-up soil. My wound is closed up now but with a great scab and clots of dried blood around it. I must not have lost all of my healing abilities then, otherwise it wouldn't have healed this fast. I continually have more and more questions and no answers. With that thought I side-eye Kai, wishing he would just answer some of my questions. He seems deep in thought staring out into the horizon with an empty look in his eyes, and his hands occupied with throwing small stones at another bigger stone a meter in front of him. I look down at myself again and wish I could wash myself.
"Kai?" I ask while still looking down. "Yeah?" he asks. I look over at him "Is there anywhere near here with a fountain or river or anything?". I hold up my hands to show him how dirty they are. His eyes are still distant for a moment before he shakes his head as to get his mind back to the present.
"Uhm yeah, I think there is a small pond about halfway down the mountain. In that direction." He points over my shoulder. I nod, stand up, and feel the cold air against my body, which is now lacking the warmth of Hera. I shake at the thought of the cold water in the pond, but I'm far too disgusted with my body right now to refuse a chance of getting clean. With one last look down at Hera I begin to walk.
~~~~~~~~
As I approach the pond, I hear a shuffle in some leaves nearby. I turn my head, trying to figure out what it could be. As I see nothing out of the ordinary, and the sound has disappeared, I try to tell myself, that it was probably just a deer or something.
I dip my foot into the icy water and shrink at the temperature. I used to bathe in the sea in the winter with no issues whatsoever, but back then I also had Hera to warm me from the inside. I take a deep breath and say to myself, that the sooner I jump in, the sooner I can get out.
I hurry into the water and submerge my entire body. I poke my head up to catch my breath but can't seem to get the air into my lungs. Instead, I take small quick breaths and feel my body go numb from the cold. I start furiously scrubbing my hands across my body, which is a very weird sensation when you can't feel anything. I try to look down at myself through the dark water to see if I've got any dirt off of me yet, but a fish catches my eye instead. I feel the rumbling sound of my hungry stomach and remember, that I haven't eaten since 6 pm yesterday. I don't know when I will get the chance to eat again, so I try to catch the fish. I get nowhere with my efforts as it is like my body is moving in slow motion. When I try to close my hand, it only does so after a second, as if my nerves have frozen to ice too, and can't send the signals. I exhale loudly in frustration but get cut off as I hear the sound of leaves rustling again from nearby. My eyes shoot up to the place but again the sound is gone. I try to suppress a shudder and stiffen up even more. I can't help but wonder if someone else is here. Maybe some of the other warriors have found us? I try to convince myself, that it can't be, because I would already be dead in that case. They wouldn't sneak around.
Nevertheless, I jump up from the water and run to the top of the hill again. Kai is still sitting close to Hera, but Hera isn't lying down anymore. Instead, she is sitting upright. I slow down as I feel the relief of seeing my sister okay. She spots me and gets up on her feet, slowly approaching me as well. I jog over to her and throw my hands around her neck in a big hug. She licks me and I feel the happiness warm me up along with her fur against my naked body.
I pull back from her and look her in the eyes while holding my hands on each side of her face. Her head is double the size of mine and my hands almost disappear in her hair. It is such a surreal feeling to look at her with my own two eyes and feel her body. It's almost like meeting her for the first time, even though we have known each other our whole life. My happiness soon fades and turns into confusion and sadness, however, as I try to mind link with her, but can't. She looks sadly back at me and lets out a small whimper. Then she licks my face again. She looks back at Kai and they lock eyes.
"She says she can't reach you.", Kai says, sounding slightly uninterested. I feel the irritation rise in me.
"But she can reach you?", I say with anger in my voice. He nods without looking at me, always keeping his eyes on Hera.
"Hey! Look at me! Why?", I say snappy at him. Hera looks concerned at us.
"Well, I wished for her and me to communicate, so we got the ability to mind link, and while you were bathing Hera told me she wished for you two to be split into two different bodies, so I guess that's why you can't link now.". He says this so factually, not taking mine or Hera's feelings into consideration, and I become furious.
"So, you're telling me, that I am now a human, and she is a wolf, and none of us are werewolves anymore?!" Hera looks down, I guess she is feeling guilty about her wish.
"Yeah, I guess that's what happened. But don't blame Hera, I was the one to suggest it." I get so mad at this. Who the hell is he to split up my sister and me?! And why would Hera even listen to him in the first place? He seems like a douche, even if he saved our ass twice yesterday.
"Who the hell are you to decide that was the best for us? Did you even consider the consequences?" I bite at him.
"Yeah, actually I did! It's not my fault that you have an unhealthy attachment to Hera. I thought it must have been awful being tied to each other like that, and not being able to be your own person. So you're welcome!". My mouth falls open, and I look at him as if he must have lost his mind. Before I can yell back at him however Hera jumps in between us. She looks up at Kai and whimpers a bit as if she is impatient for him to tell me something.
Hesitatingly he says, "Oh yeah, and Hera and I are mates"...
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