Seth and the Prometheus Guild

Return

Trekking through the forest with two human kits, some big human-bear hybrid and the cursed dog was quickly becoming one of the most annoying things Seth had ever suffered through - and he'd been tortured and eaten in a human cafeteria respectively.

How or why Kaya had convinced Hairy (who was according to her part troll) to carry the barking nuisance would never make sense to him. And why Hairy even wanted to return to the humans was an even bigger mystery.

He was big and strong and would surely survive out here in the wild; he had nice thick skin, pelted in places to keep him warm and big tusks to help him survive. But here he was, marching alongside them back to the humans who treated him worse than the dog in his arms.

Hairy was capable of speaking Human, which made him just slightly less obnoxious than the stupid dog. The only one keeping nice and quiet was Mouse on Seth's back. And she had kept her mouth away from his neck as well. Really, the only complaint that Seth had about her was the fact that the wound on his arm had started smarting again the longer he carried her, despite her ridiculously light weight.

Kaya was constantly reassuring the other girl, interspersed with asking Hairy and Seth if they needed a break. Seth had chosen to ignore her instead of answering any of the inane questions, her soft voice becoming a static backdrop to the leaves crunching under his feet and branches rustling in the wind.

Sometimes Seth would catch the scent of something small and tasty that tugged on his instincts, something he would hear skittering in the underbrush that he wanted to chase just for fun.

But he couldn't. Not only was he loaded up with one useless human kit, another was tracing his steps. And Kaya didn't look like she could keep up with a sudden sprint.

He only tuned back into her useless blabbing when he felt the rhythm of Mouse's breathing stutter against his back in response to something Kaya had said.

"I promise, Holly, I won't tell anyone. But ..."

Mouse tensed. It made it more difficult to carry her than when she had been lax and molded to his form. Seth huffed an annoyed breath and adjusted his grip.

"We have to cover your back," Kaya continued, her tone soothing. "Like this others will notice ... it."

Notice what? The scars? Seth wondered why it mattered. Was it another human peculiarity, like the nudity thing? But his scars were always showing, silver lines criss-crossing his cheeks, and none of the humans had ever acted scandalized by it.

"I know." Mouse's voice was faint. Her scent tinged with something sour and pungent, a fresh dose of fear. Seth frowned when the taste lingered at the back of his throat with every breath.

"Why afraid?"

He would have alerted them if he had detected any threat and he was still painted in the lifeblood of his last adversaries. Surely there was no need for her to taint the forest air with her useless worry while he was around.

It made him want to spit and grimace.

Mouse flinched but it was Kaya who answered.

"Holly ... can I tell him? Seth is ... I trust him. He won't spill your secret."

The nod against his shoulder was so miniscule Seth would have confused it for a random twitch if Kaya hadn't sighed.

"Seth ... Holly is a siren."

Seth continued trotting along and when nothing more was forthcoming he almost presented his teeth in a warning display. When would these humans finally learn that he didn't care about all of their little problems and sensibilities and rules? He had no idea why that was a reason for her sudden fright.

Kaya must have read his frustration, because she continued. "She is like you, Seth. Not human, not even in part. If the others find out – it would be bad."

Seth was bored with the topic already. It wasn't anything new, humans being afraid of others, and it wasn't anything to do with him. He highly doubted that The Director would force Holly to hunt in the quaint town alongside Seth after all. She was much too weak and soft, even now that her secret was shared by someone other than herself doing nothing more than continuing to rest on his back.

"So ... can we have your shirt?"

Seth blinked and looked at Kaya, whose cheeks darkened under his gaze. "It's, I obviously can't take mine off, and Holly needs a shirt to hide her wing scars, you're the only other one ..."

"Why not you?"

Seth was truly curious. His shirt was ripped at the shoulder and smeared with dirt, foliage and so much blood that it had crusted into an almost solid shield. The only reason he was still bothering with it was the fact that he remembered how soft and useless human skin was without any protection.

Kaya's in turn could be considered quite clean, only a bit dirtied by dust, soil and sweat.

But he had apparently asked the wrong thing because she flushed further. "Because I'm a girl!"

Humans – whatever.

Seth shrugged and dropped Mouse without much fanfare, the silent girl only just managing to catch herself before she toppled to the ground. When he tugged his shirt over his head, rust-colored flakes raining down around his feet, and presented it to her, she averted her eyes and gave a silent thanks.

Seth pondered telling her that he was only doing it because he really couldn't stand Kaya nagging him for the rest of the hour-long trek back to the school but in the end he couldn't be bothered to put it into words.

Mouse was one of the few human kits that was significantly smaller than him, his shirt long enough to cover her hips as well as her torso once she pulled it on. Kaya had looked away as soon as Seth had grabbed the hem of his shirt but now she turned back around, giving him a grateful smile, her cheeks still tinged a different shade. Seth wondered what the display signaled for humans.

"Thank you, Seth."

Mouse clambered back onto his back, the stiff and coarse fabric of his shirt rubbing against his naked skin and Seth started walking again, catching up to the big lumbering figure of the troll-changeling.

He really couldn't wait to get back to school.

The next hour passed in peace until he suddenly felt a small nip on his skull. Seth's hands clenched on Mouse's thighs in warning, his nails would have pierced her skin if they were thick and sharp instead of short and bendy.

"S-sorry, your hair got caught ..."

"Fix it," he hissed.

"I ... You want me to ...?"

Another sharp hiss cut her stuttering off, a brief silence settling around them. Kaya was occupied with Hairy and his baggage, softly talking to the dog and petting the head of the blasted creature.

Seth should have gotten rid of it when he still had the chance.

And then his thoughts were redirected when he felt soft touches fluttering around his head, hesitant fingers carefully combing through the light strands, the tips of Mouse's nails sometimes whispering across his scalp in the lightest of scratches.

His shoulders relaxed.

Mouse was even more careful in untangling the messy leftovers of his braid than Francesca would have been and Seth hummed whenever she slowed or stopped, urging her to keep going.

It was the least she could do, seeing as he was the one doing all the work of walking for the both of them. Even after his hair was untangled, she kept going, stuttering something Seth didn't bother trying to comprehend when Kaya asked what she was doing.

And it was in this state that they arrived at the border marking the territory of the school, bathed in the late afternoon sunlight, Mouse wearing his shirt and petting his head, while Kaya led their mismatched group towards what they would consider safety.

Seth on the other hand ... he had a different goal in mind.

Two days.

There was, after all, someone waiting for him.