Not Alone

Chapter 10: Simple Kindness

AN: The next husbando won't show up for a while yet, but I am in need of some name suggestions. I have something picked out, but I'm not SUPER happy with it, so any cool suggestions would be welcomed. Another image  of the woods where they live~

My eyes narrow in frustration as I sit on the cliff edge, my fingers fumbling to weave together a simple basket "Goddammit, why must you fight me?!" I hiss quietly as I undo the past 20 minutes of poorly made progress, the strands already loose and falling apart.

After having dinner, freshly caught deer kindly donated by Asper, I left the cave to sit on the cliff edge, overlooking the softly rolling ocean in order to have a nice view while I attempt to try my hand at basket weaving. Try and fail, for the most part. I, as a Psychology major, don't exactly have a ton of experience or skill in bushcraft.

Resting the amalgamation of long grasses on my lap, I lean over to grab a piece of my leftover dinner from an old tin, a small chunk of cooked meat. The meat, while slightly tough, has a nice gamey flavor to it, but it would be much nicer with salt or some kind of spice.

Dias and I decided early on to not throw anything away, even if we couldn't find an immediate use for it, so keeping all the empty food cans was an obvious move.

Popping another chunk of meat in my mouth, I go back to weaving the basket. Or trying to anyway.

A loud splash from the water below grabs my attention. I lean forward, just enough to be able to look over the cliff edge.

A large object zips through the dark water below, moving too quickly to identify properly. My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I try to guess what it could be.

It's big. Way bigger than me, possibly bigger than Dias in his bat form. A long silhouette, probably a predator of some sort, but its tail isn't moving from side to side like I would expect from a shark.

I gasp a little as a huge plume of wet air erupts from the surface and a tall, black dorsal fin rises from the surface of the water. It only surfaces for a second, quickly disappearing back into the dark blue water.

I stand up, letting the half-made basket tumble out my lap without a care as I try to get a glimpse of the creature. My eyes peer into the depths, a smile overtaking my face as I spot the occasional glints of white.

An Orca. It has to be! I grin as I watch the imposing dorsal fin rise from the water as the giant Orca takes another breath.

Backing up a little, I whirl around and sprint back to the tunnel entrance, jumping down the carved steps and racing down the tunnel. Dias whips his head around to face me, immediately dropping the stone spoon he was working on. Asper pokes his head around the corner of the bedroom, concern on his face.

I didn't even give the boys a chance to speak before I dart over to Dias, grabbing his hand to drag him out of his sitting position. I grin as I say excitedly "You have to come quick! To the cliff edge! There's an Orca!'

Dias, looking a bit shocked, quickly nods his head and follows me out of the cave, Asper following along with a befuddled look on his face, no longer as concerned as I showed no signs of distress.

Leading Dias and Asper to the cliff edge, it takes me only a few moments to point out the flash of white under the water, only slightly further down the cliff than before "There! Do you see it?!"

Dias peers into the water, eyes darting around before landing on a dark silhouette. His eyes light up with excitement "Holy shit! I didn't know there were Orcas around"

He looks back at me, a slight confusion mixing with his joy "I thought they lived in cold waters? Like with seals and stuff?"

Asper chimes in from close behind us, bewilderment clear in his tone "What is an 'Orca'?"

I look over my shoulder to Asper, who has his own eyes locked on the silhouette as I explain "A large sea-dwelling mammal. Highly predatory, they typically live in Pods or families," I look over to Dias "They mostly live in colder waters, but they can spread basically anywhere with enough food, I think"

Glancing back over at the water, my eyes widen slightly in amazement as I see the whale has circled back around closer to our strip of the cliff, instead of moving farther away.

Turning to Asper, I ask with a hint of pleading in my voice "Do we have any scraps from the deer? Stuff that we won't eat ourselves?"

Furrowing his brows and tearing his eyes away from the water to look back at me, Asper nods "Yes. Why do you ask?"

I lick my lips, my eyes still darting back to the Orca "I know you're not supposed to feed the wildlife, but I really want to try!"

Asper looks back at the water before sighing softly "Okay, I can go get the scraps for you" He turns and quickly slithers into the woods, presumably where he killed and butchered the deer for us.

Dias barks a laugh from where he is crouched on the cliff edge, looking down to the water "I know feeding the fish is typically considered a romantic thing to do, but I didn't know that extended to feeding whales as well"

I sniff "Well I'm officially extending it, feeding a killer whale matches the Beastworld aesthetic better"

Dias snickers as Asper returns, scraps of meat and bone in his hands. Asper drops the small pile close to the edge, blood slowly seeping into the short grass.

Looking over the selection of scraps, I carefully pluck out the neck of the deer and turn to face the water. Spotting the Orca, I throw the neck to it as accurately as I can, which turns out to be not very since the neck splashes down a couple of meters away from the big beast.

We all watch in anticipation as the Orca moves closer to the scrap of meat, pausing in its movements for a few seconds before it snatches up the slowly sinking neck.

Dias stands up from his crouch, a childish grin on his face "Me next!" He grabs one of the front legs, scrapped for not having enough meat to make butchering it a worthy endeavor, and tosses it down into the water far below.

As we watch the Orca circle around and inspect the new scrap, Asper asks quietly "I heard over the distance that feeding fish is considered romantic where you are from. Why?"

I sit down on the edge, my legs dangling over open space. I pat the ground next to me. Asper, for the first time since we met him, transforms his lower body into its human shape in order to properly sit beside me, legs dangling.

I ignore his naked lower half as I answer "Well, it's calming. Serene. It's time quietly spent with the person you love, without the need for some exciting activity to fill the air," Dias sits on the other side of me, gently wrapping his arm around my waist "It's... it's an expression of compassion, I guess. To extend an act of simple kindness towards creatures you typically don't really think about, or even like"

Asper sits quietly, his silver waving gently in the breeze.

Leaning backward, Asper picks up the other front leg of the deer. He holds it in his hand for a second, a contemplative look on his face before he drops it into the water.

He sits quietly for another few moments before he speaks, his voice a soft rasp "I like the thought of that. Of compassion. Gentle things are not common here... I wish it was."

Dias turns his head to Asper, lifting his hand from my waist, he raises his arm in order to rest his hand on Asper's shoulder as he speaks softly "It can be here. With us"

Asper reaches up his own to rest on top of Dias', holding it gently.

A comfortable silence falls around us, only broken by the sound of the waves and the occasional breath of the whale below.