The Path of a Black Sheep in a Fantasy World (BL)

Chapter 79

Solo pienso en ti (prima) by Gregory Charles~

Ash woke up feeling warm, a truly rare sensation, far from all those cold nights spent with only the stars above his head. The shifter struggled to get up with the messy limbs thrown around him. Evan and Adam were sleeping on each side of him, with Blaze in his fox form sleeping on top of his legs.

It explained why he was so warm.

The child rubbed his eyes sleepily, taking in his surroundings. The cave was dark and with a low roof, the floor cold and covered in small agglomerations of rocks. Looking behind him, Ash saw that he had been sleeping on a thick cover, explaining why his back wasn't hurting. However, Adam and Evan were sleeping directly on the floor, meaning that they would most probably be sore when waking up.

It made the child fidget with worry, but at the same time, a warm butterfly-like feeling emerged in his heart.

Looking more closely at the cave, Ash realized that it was the one in which he had been hiding when the family fought the snake. It meant that they were still close to the village. Instead of jumping to conclusions like he would have done before, Ash decided to trust Adam and guess that it was in case he didn't want to follow them.

In the past, he would have thought that it was so that they could get rid of him easier if they had chosen not to take him with them finally. Still, now he wanted to believe that the choice was made with only the best intent in mind.

He hoped that his trust wouldn't be betrayed.

"Mmm... awake, Ash? You can sleep longer if you want..." Adam mumbled sleepily, having been woken up by the child's moves. He wrapped his arm around the snake's waist, bringing him closer so that he could snuzzle against him. Ash let out a bell-like laugh at the ticklish feeling, making Adam smile. The warrior's muscles tensed as he felt a cold scaly thing wrapping around his bicep. He prepared to fight, only to realize that it was the shifter's slim tail hanging on to him with little strength, loosely wrapped like he was testing the water.

Adam glanced up, seeing through his blurry eyes that Ash was looking down at him nervously, the end of his tail fidgety as it wrapped tighter.

The muscled man chuckled, gently patting Ash's tail with his free hand.

"Is it sensible? Should I buy some sort of cloth to cover it up when the weather turns colder?" Adam asked, starting to wake up slowly and his brain already thinking of the future. Ash was part-snake, so maybe he was more sensible to the cold? Adam wanted the child to speak if he needed anything.

"Oh erm... It-it's kind of sensible... I c-can endure the c-cold!" Ash answered truthfully. He didn't see anything wrong with his words, so he grew confused when he saw the flash of anger on his master's - father? - face. He tried to think about what he said, but saw nothing wrong. Maybe Adam was upset because his tail was sensible? Would it be a problem? Maybe he had wanted to take his scales to sell them?

"Selling t-them isn't a g-good idea... My old m-master tried b-but it didn't sell w-well..." Ash whispered, afraid that it would only anger the man further. Instead, it seemed to startle Adam as he blinked, looking down at the tail still wrapped around his bicep in bewilderment. He only then remembered the spot missing scales that he had noticed when first meeting the shifter. He stared more closely at the tail, seeing the skin an angry red with dried blood in some places, and smaller scales that looked thinner than others.

He hadn't thought much of it at first, only guessing that it was the result of abuse like the bruises on the rest of the child's body. Now, thinking that it was intentionally done with bad intentions...

"Ash... I'm asking this just to make sure... Did your old master... rip your scales out?" Adam asked shakily, his voice breaking in the middle of his sentence as his mind conjured an image of the small child being tortured. Ash nodded, completely ignorant of the devastating fury that he just unleashed on the village.

"D-did it hurt?" The warrior dared to ask, his breathing quickening up as he tried to control his anger. He didn't want to scare the child. Ash nodded, his body quivering as he was shocked by a sudden breaking sound. He looked behind him to see Evan holding a rock, said rock now crumbling into small pieces. The giant only smiled at him, but Ash couldn't understand why he was feeling scared of the man even while he smiled at him.

"Don't worry, Ash. We won't ever do anything to hurt you, and I want you to be comfortable. I don't want you to survive, I want you to live happily. Which means, no enduring the cold, or hunger, or whatever. If you need something just ask, we will be happy to oblige. Understood?" Adam turned Ash's attention back to him to give Evan time to recompose himself. The snake titled his head to the left and to the right, looking like he was debating the warrior's words. before nodding shyly.

"Perfect! Now, is there something you want right now?" Adam figured that the child would be hungry after using up all his power, he sure was himself after the big attack. However, he wanted to see if the child truly understood, and would ask for food himself without being led into answering.

Ash fiddled with his fingers, his tail tightening and then loosening around Adam's arm. The warrior found it really cute. He wasn't much of a reptile person before, but now, he wanted to learn everything he could about snakes. Seeing the expectant look on his new father's face, the child finally gathered his courage to speak up his mind.

"A-a hug. I w-would like a hug... please..." Adam's heart broke into a million pieces as he heard the quivering voice of the child, the tone nearly pleading as he asked such a simple thing.

"O-of course, sweetheart... You don't need to ask for such things, you can just hug me directly..." Adam whispered as he took the shaking snake into his arms, keeping his anger at bay and only enjoying the present. The child had probably not felt such warmth for many years, and it killed Adam.

He, himself, had found it difficult to ask Evan for physical contact at first, but now he didn't hesitate anymore in taking the initiative.

Children should never be deprived of the human's warmth.

Ash was obviously touch-starved as he hugged Adam back with his thin arms, his frail body trying to mold into Adam's muscled one.

Adam never let the child go first.

He waited, for as long as necessary, until Ash finally released his hold. The shifter sniffed softly as he wiped his eyes. Adam was ready to take out a clean napkin to help him, but he stopped himself when he saw that the child's tears were already dried and that he didn't sniff anymore. Only the red eyes betrayed the complex emotions that the snake had been feeling. He had a soft but determined look, far from his meek and terrified expression of before.

Ash was already growing stronger.

Hey dear readers, a cute chapter to show Ash's growth! It's a small improvement, but only time will help him heal!

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