A Nagas tale

sidewalk flower?

I woke up feeling a bit cold my first instinct being to find the warmest thing. I grasp the clothes nearest me and scoot closer. I bury my face into the warm clothes before falling back asleep.

I had slept in small bursts over the hunting trip so laying here felt like all I wanted to do. I groan thinking about the work that waits when I get back. 'The patrols need to be reworked after that band of thieves took a few of the girls.' I let out a deep huff of annoyance. Somebody rubs their face on my back. I turn to see that Audrey is grabbing my clothes. I frown 'She will not be happy to wake up like this.' I yank at my clothes. She groans "Ugh....fuck off." she huffs as she pulls at my clothes. I yank my clothes free from her thin fingers. "ugh... I'm cold..." she whines before turning over and hugging Yyvonne. 'tch, it's fine once we get to the village she won't be my problem.' I get up and start the fire to cook some food. It feels odd to find such a bold woman. Most of the women I've found in my lifetime have been too scared and shy to even get near me. I sigh hearing her let out a whine. "Ma shut off the air conditioner." she huffs. I turn to see her rubbing the sleep off her face. Her hair is a mess as she sits on the fur looking out at the world. Her eyes are half open as she scans the area. "oh... right... not home." she mumbles with a relieved sigh. She turns her head to me and gives a sleepy smile. "Morning." she yawns out its odd for anyone to smile at least not towards me. I watch her comb the sleep out of her hair with her fingers. "ugh... why's it gotta be so cold." she complains her lips yet again a soft blue color as she gets up and off the fur. She stretches her body as she walks over to the fire I had started. She sits down to the side of me a few inches away. She holds her hands out to the fire letting it heat her skin. "Did I wake you up?" she asks nervously. I shake my head "I was already awake." I correct her assumption. She nods "Sorry, I'm no good with the cold." she murmurs before lifting her hands to her face to pass the heat onto her cheeks.

I curl up near the fire watching as Kogen cooks the food. My eyes fixed on the large scar over his eye. 'that's such a big scar..' I note down mentally. "Here." he hands me the food. I cheerfully take the food never saying no to food was how I had started living. I take a bite only for the heat of the meat to burn my tongue. I let go of the meat and fan my tongue. "ow.. right it's still hot." I Murmur which earns me a soft snort from Kogen. I look at him while he checks on the rest of the meat. I feel a bit embarrassed for being such a slob around somebody I have not known for long. I gave up on trying to act proper around everyone too tired from how I used to live life. I look at the meat and blow on it so it cools down. "Uhm kogen." I let my curiosity get the best of me. "Are you married?" I ask as I blow on the meat. He has a kid with him so I assume it's his kid so maybe he has a wife too? "hm? no why do you ask?" he answers startled. I take a bite of the now-cooled meat. I chewed on my food as I noticed how startled the question made him. His reaction is almost defensive as if being married was out of the question for him. I swallow the food in my mouth "Oh, I see... I just thought since Yyvonne is with you I thought you had a wife already." I point out. He seemed to relax as he shook his head "No, I adopted Yyvonne when I found her out in the forest." he explains. "Out...here? Yyvonne?" I ask looking around at this large forest. he nods "Her mother had been killed by a band of thieves when she tried to escape a trafficking attempt." He explains. My heart sank at the horror this little girl had gone through. "Her mother managed to hide her well before they killed her." He tells me. "My men and I got to her before those sorry bastards could." He adds while turning a skewer. I nod looking at the still-sleeping kid. "how cruel." I whisper as I take another bite. "it's the way the world works." he answers. I nod understanding that sentiment. It got very quiet as I ate and tried to process the world I had just been dragged into. 'people that turn into animals... thieves trafficking women...' I chew on the last bit of meat on the stick. "Here." he offers me a new piece. I take the food without argument appreciating a man that did not starve a woman. I've seen it too many times before where men would shame their girlfriends/ wives over their weight and how much they ate. "Hmm... lucky whoever gets to marry this guy." I think only to be met with a wide stare. I suck in some cold air when I see him lift his brow with confusion. I giggle "Haha it.... tis a joke!" I panic as I try to take back what I have spoken. "Lucky huh?" he asked almost sad but mostly skeptical. I laugh nervously wishing I could just jump into a pit and never come out. "Do women like being fed?" he asks the look in his eyes curious. I look around myself "UHm... we...well I'm not sure..." I panic under his curious question. "Do you like eating?" his question if taken in the wrong context would sound threatening "Duh! I wouldn't want to starve." I answer as if it was the most obvious thing. I bite my lips as I realize I've been getting too comfortable with these people in the short 2 days together. "uhm I mean yeah, my sisters always said food is the way to the soul." I whisper before taking a bite of the still-hot meat. I suck it up and chew on the hot piece of meat. I hear him chuckle at the phrase. "Hmm, then I'd best not feed you." he offers his joke. I turn away from him embarrassed that I had done such a blunder. Normally I never really cared about what I said but, Aaron and Milton both told me that my way of talking can sometimes be seen as flirting. So I have grown more observant of what I said and did. An awkward silence filled the air as we ate. The walk was a better situation since I could hide away from his sight. I followed his tracks again hopping from one to the next. " So uhm do you think the chief will let me not get married?" I ask bringing the topic back up. The idea of being forced into marrying somebody I never once met and, in a world where I had no idea what customs were normal, made me nervous the closer we got to the village. He shrugs "Who knows that man is a pain to deal with." he answers. I stop hopping 'Oh great, thats reassuring.' I sigh as I catch my breath. The cold air was still really nippy on my face but what could I do? I still felt too awkward to ask Kogen to carry me again. I hear the snow crunch I look around curious as to what is making that sound. My eyes widen as a wolf is lunging at me with its mouth wide open. I let out a scream as it gets closer my legs frozen to their spot. "Audrey!" I gasped as Kogen tackled me to the snow. A strong hand holding my head against his warm body the smell of pine attacks my nose. I turned my head wanting to see what was going on. I see more legs appear from behind the trees. 'no way... a pack!?' I feel panicky as he gets off of me. "start running! don't stop!" he gets up pulling me out of the snow with him. He points me in a direction "Go!" he shouts the order. I nod knowing I am no help in this situation. I gasp as Yyvonne jumps onto my back adding more weight to me. I started running as fast as I could through the snow. "Audrey! don't stop!" I hear Kogen shout in pain as I run as fast as my body can take me. I closed my eyes in fear and pain from the sharp cold air I was breathing. I trip on a hidden log hitting the snow with so much force. I hear Yyvonne yell as she is thrown off my back. I push myself off the snow and see her climbing a tree. I turn to see a wolf rushing for me already too close. My eyes widen as I try to get on my feet. My ankle throbs forcing me back onto the ground. I grab the log I'd tripped on hoping I could at least hold it off. I swung the log as hard as I could closing my eyes hoping I could hit it. 'I know I've tried so many times before to end it but... please not now... My life just started to look up!' I hear the wolf let out a whine as the log connects. I open my eyes and watch the wolf back off. I huff as I tighten my grip on the log "Audrey!" I shudder to hear Yyvonne call my name. I watch the wolf shake its head trying to shake off the hit. I quickly rush to the tree despite my ankle screaming at me to stop. I get to the tree "Audrey! Hurry!" she shouts as I slip on the bark. 'ugh! this fucking hurts!' tears well up in my eyes blurring what I was seeing. "Audrey!!!" I turn to see the wolf's open mouth so close to my face. I press my back against the tree as a large hand grabs the wolf's mouth. The wolf is pulled away from me but my heart is loudly pounding in my ears. Kogen had taken his bear form and snapped its neck while I fell to the snow. 'oh god... that's terrifying.'  I cover my mouth watching Kogen take his human form right before my eyes. 'I thought I was seeing things.' My heart pounded in my ears still as I watched this man save me for the second time. 'This should be scary. I should be scared but god damn it.' I feel the relief wash away the panic and horror giving way to ugly crying. 'I am looking too deep into this aren't I? he is only helping me because he's used to helping.' He quickly walks over to me "Audrey?" his low voice sounds like bells in the chaos of my mortality. I try to stop crying 'Nobody will comfort such an ugly cry!' Mother's words sting. I choke on my sobs desperately trying to stop. He pulls me in closer pressing me to his body the scent of pine again tickling my nose. He rubbed my back trying to comfort me but I could hear his heart going crazy. Yyvonne hops down next to me putting her small hand on my back. "I didn't get to that one in time." Kogen laments. "I'm sorry." he apologizes while I slowly start to calm down. 'I almost died... I almost fucking died... and I was scared....' I shake my head "T...thank .. you." I sobbed ugly crying against Kogen's chest. Yyvonne and Kogen sat there with me until I calmed down. I take a few deep breaths before letting go of Kogen's clothes. "I... haha sorry..." I whisper wiping away the tears from my eyes. I don't know this guy well and here I am crying so ugly. "Did you get hurt?" he asks moving away from me. I touch my ankle "I think I sprained my ankle." I whisper rubbing away the tears of pain that well up. He lets out a deep huff as he grabs my foot. I hiss from the pain as he lifts my ankle to check it. He squeezes my ankle lightly earning himself a yelp. I cover my mouth and look away from my foot. 'this hurts.' I complain to myself as he puts my foot down. "Here let me carry you." he offers. With not many options I agreed like a child I held up my arms ready for him to pick me up.