I See You

Lost

"So, Mystic, with your quote unquote mate being-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence unless you want to lose the your most favorite body part," Star threatens her brother in her sweetest voice.

Greenlin glares at his sister before stalking off to his friends.

I give her a weak but thankful smile. "Thanks," I croak out, my voice sounding odd from disuse.

Star looks at me worriedly, signaling to Selene and Venus to come over to us.

"Thank you for the save," Selene says rolling her eyes. "Those three are idiots!"

Venus nods in agreement, but adds, "Yeah, I don't know what Jay sees in them as friends."

We all look at the four guys about twenty feet away.

Greenlin took his shirt off some time ago, and periodically wipes the sweat gathering on his face and chest off with it. (I think he was going for 'I'm too sexy for my shirt' but it's more like 'I'm trying too hard for something that is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN'.) He looks like his mother, with almost black hair and eyes, while Star looks like their father, with auburn hair and gray eyes.

Rayden and Teegan Blue are terrors. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration... Rayden is a terror, and Teegan is okay- when he's not with his older brother and/ or Greenlin. Teegan has lighter bright orange-ish hair than his brother, a pretty sunset looking color. Rayden's is orange- orange, like the fruit orange. Both have brown eyes. Rayden is being himself and miming humping a tree while Teegan does this obnoxious laugh that sounds suspiciously like that of his father when his father is insulting people.

Meanwhile, Jay is in his standard t-shirt and jean shorts - looking every bit like the Aryan model he could be (according to Selene)-, hands in his pockets, rolling his eyes at their stupid antics.

"I agree with Venus," Selene speaks up, blushing a little bit.

I shrug not really caring, depressed that this is all I have to show for progress: four useless guys, three supportive friends, two months away from my love, and being basically lost in a large forest on the tiniest chance of finding a mystic.

Okay, maybe not totally lost, as we actually have no idea where the mystics are, so more like blindly entering a forest that may or may not have a mystic (or two, maybe, one people swore up and down there were two) and having no idea where to start but going in anyway.

See, it took a month and a half alone to find someone who would actually tell us where we might find a mystic. And then it took a lot of testing for the wolf shifters (don't go calling them "werewolves", they'll bite your head off- we actually had to ban the boys to the hotel room while we went back to talk to the wolf elders, as Greenlin almost got murdered three times by three different wolves in three different situations. Lucky for him, the wolves were looking for no wars with the tigers...) to tell me anything of what they know about their sometimes allies, the bears.

(Damn they're loyal- note to self, when I become Bast, make wolves allies.)

First it was all, 'what do you want with them?"- Which is valid, but the tiger community as a whole are private and don't like sharing things with others. Weakness is not to be shown in front of other people, let alone other species. So I just tried to explain I needed advice about something super important and was hoping they could give me a place to start on before mentioned important thing.

Being us, we all thought it would suffice... What? We grew up isolated, save for special occasions. We only know customs of the humans and ourselves, besides the overview of the other species (which isn't very developed- note to self: same MO as last note, just learn/inform people better. They probably would get a rude awakening that tigers aren't the most respected. We need to get better at, I guess it be called, interspecies relations? Expand on thoughts...). Needless to say, we thought we had it in the bag...

All my avoidiness (that's another word in my book) accidentally made them suspicious of me and my motives, which lead to days of them "deliberating". Star, Selene and Venus had tried to convince me that it was normal- as being future Bast, basically nothing was denied to me (I am way more privileged than I thought. Goddess, before Kaitlyn only I and my needs existed for me. I was all me, me, me... I was pathetic!)- and I should just be patient and wait. On the third day I was bouncing off the walls, pacing tracks in the carpet. I got so worked up that I snuck out, going back solo, out of my mind with need to see my comatose mate.

So, doing something unbecoming of a tiger, let alone a future leader, I bared my soul to a few of the elders (who apparently wagered in a bet it'd take me a variance of a week or more to come back, and that I'd be dragging along my "pack". Note to self: you got some shit to do when Kaitlyn and you are ruling about what other species know of us). Impressed that I not only ditched my friends to "do what right when it's way too important to wait", and coming days before they thought so, they listened as I explained everything, from why I was looking for a mystic to gloating about my mate, and all the way to how dark, empty, and meaningless my life was between turning sixteen and finally meeting Kaitlyn.

After a lot of tears and getting a few slightly awkward, but very comfortable and warm hugs, they told me what they know of the bears, which was limited, but a place to start nonetheless.

So here we are, creeping though the Salidon forest, looking for the mystic(s) based on a decade old estranged friendship of a wolf and a bear, who were once allies. (The mystic left a decade old trail for its friend, and I'm telling you a week in this forest with this group is almost enough to make me turn around. Kaitlyn is the only thing that matters enough to conquer anything. She's my trump card to everything.)

I breathe deep before reopening my eyes, and turning back to the group, not hopeless because I can't afford to be, but taxed.

I blink at what I see.

Or don't see, rather.

"Guys?" I ask, confused, "Don't play like this, we need to find-" I hear a something snap behind me and turn around, seeing no one I continue,"-help. For all we know, time is limited-!"

I feel something prick my leg, and immediately my worries and confusion disappear, along with my sight and mind.