Agape

Chapter 7

Shu propped himself up from his elbow, squinting at the morning sun glaring at him. He moved himself to a sitting position adjusting his vision as he looked around. Lui and Free were awake, standing away from the group passing words in between them in quiet whispers. Valt and Honcho were fast asleep and the rest —Haru, Takeshi and Max were missing. They must've gone to hunt, Shu concluded, raking his fingers through his long white hair to get rid of last night's tangles. His eyes flickered through Lui. Yesterday's memories were still fresh in his mind, of how kind Lui had been through the whole ordeal. How generous were his words.

"Good morning" Free's voice said, snapping him off the trance.

"Morning," Shu replied, looking around for his leather band —the one he used to keep his hair tied up into a ponytail. Lui tossed some more firewood to keep the fire burning.

"Aren't we going to wake those two up?" Lui boredly gestured towards the two males, their limbs sprawled across the ground as they slept, snoring loudly.

"Let them be," Free answered, sitting cross-legged beside Shu. "The others should come back after hunting shortly. Let's wake them when they're here"

Lui hummed, "Whatever" His eyes shifted to Shu, his gaze fixated on his wild bedhead. White locks —tangled and messy, curling right above his waist.

"You're staring" Shu quietly said, fishing out the leather band from the ground a bit away from him. He didn't remember when he tossed it out that far.

Free smirked, "Maybe he's thinking you're beautiful"

Shu flushed, "Huh?"

Lui raised his brow with an exasperated sigh but didn't bother answering. None of them knew how they had gotten closer to the point they could share this playful banter with each other. It was not just last night's incident. Free's kindness in that far-off night to stand up for him. The memories evoked by the nymphs on that day when everyone, despite the hatred drew closer to each other through their shared suffering. Little by little, these incidents intermingled, drawing them incredibly close. Lui had no idea how long this would last.

"We're back!" Haru's cheerful voice announced as the three of them reached their resting place. Honcho and Valt stirred from his loud voice and started waking up, their groggy faces looking at the Werewolves carrying captured fish and two rabbits —both dead.

Shu had sympathy for the creatures. In fact, everyone did. But they had to go on, find food to keep their bodies healthy and strong. Max and Takeshi started skinning the animals and pierced the meat to burn them by the fire. Haru was readying the fish when Lui finally decided to break the silence. He gestured at Shu, "I have something to talk about Shu"

Shu's heart stilled. Haru tilted his head, "What?"

"He needs a weapon," Lui said, crossing his arms. "I don't know what shitty rules you have back there, but he needs a silver or even an iron weapon. Just something"

Everyone focused their gaze on Shu, the albino just sat there with his brows knitted together, shoulders raised in slight alarm. "I agree" It was Max who answered, "The journey will only get tougher. It's the safe option"

Haru looked at the food they were preparing and back at Shu. Without further questions the ravenette smiled, "Well, Lui can train you then!"

Lui raised his brow, "Excuse me?"

Haru shrugged, "We're sorting out the food" He said waving his arms still drenched in blood. "You can go ahead and train him while we do this. It's your idea and you're the best swordsman we have here. Right Shu?"

Shu hesitantly shrugged. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of having a weapon because silver is deadly for Werewolf. Though most of the commanders and Alphas carried silver weapons with them, the imminent danger of the action boomerang on them was there. Lui rubbed his temples trying not to snap at the smiling Alpha sitting by the fire working his way to the second rabbit. Lui raised his brow at Shu, "Do you want to learn how to fight with weapons?" He asked.