Fall of the Forsaken (on hold)

chapter 11

"that's... amazing" It was hard to believe but it made sense. There was no way each and every tribe resided in caverns like ours; other cave systems would be too small to house so many people and they would be forced outside with new generations being born and growing up.

"Ishkan here came with his mate and kit wanting to leave the northern mountains and become part of a bigger tribe." tarkov Spoke up.

"Not only are we expanding but with new blood we are learning more about hunting. Fighting and surviving. Newcomers bring in knowledge long forgotten or untold by our tribe such as the building of structures.

Sivash, kaizen, come share some of the knowledge you bring with you from your tribes." Azriel urged.

Both younger males stepped forward to greet me and the youngest cleared his throat. "Greetings i-"

"kai'zen is a master of tongues! He knows dix different languages, Including ingliss!" Xeith happily jumped into The conversation.

"Yeah he's been teaching us! All the human words! Even Azriel has been learning!" nanku beamed.

Azriel all but snarled in response, making both the boys yelp and hide behind Tarkov and kaizen. "Don't you two know how to keep your mouths Shut?!" He snapped.

"Why are you yelling at us!? It's true!"

Tarkov sighed and shook his head glancing back at Nanku And Xeith. "You realize that was meant to be his surprise for her once she returned, And you just ruined it."

Both Nanku and Xeiths Eyes widened in realization before their tails tucked between their legs. "Oh...sorry."

Azriel continued to growl at them with a hard glare until I grabbed his arm to pull his attention away from them And give him a smile. "It's not ruined, I think it's really sweet."

This seemed to calm him down as he huffed and turned his head away. "It would have been better had I actually managed to surprise you." He sulked.

Kaizen cleared his throat to speak up once more. "I am not completely fluent in The human language but If you would like i would be happy to help you learn xandian at some point."

"Y-yes! That would be wonderful! I've been wanting to learn!" I responded excitedly. "I wanted to start learning before I left but never got the chance-" my voice trailed off.

"You will have every chance now to learn and do whatever you want." Azriel cupped my face before nuzzling my forehead. "whether it be learning our tongue, learning to fight, hunt, scavenge. We have plenty of teachers, and all the time in the world."

He was right now that I've returned, I'm free to learn again. Free To continue living my life how I wanted. Nodding, I looked at kaizen and a thought occurred to me. "Wait, how did you learn english?"

The question took him by surprise as his gaze turned Dark and his face fell. Looking elsewhere, Kaizen scratched the back of his head. "From a friend... two sols ago we had a younger human male show up outside our village, he was badly injured at the time so we took him in and nursed them back to full health. He and I became good friends and taught eachother many things. But as Time passed he grew sick and steadily became weaker to the point he could not even stand. He eventually could not keep going and died In his sleep one night."

"Oh...I'm so sorry." I immediately regretted asking, feeling guilty for bringing back such unpleasant memories for him.

"There is no need for that-" Kaizen quickly waved off the apology and gave a smile. "I Left my home looking for a new purpose. When I heard about your tribe and the two humans staying here I knew It was fate calling me. Truthfully I came here hoping to share such memories of my friend and perhaps learn more about him and his kind from fellow humans." Kaizen then showed Off a pendant he wore around his neck made from silver. "Maybe even return this to his kin. So he may rest peacefully."