Brother *HIATUS*

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Tyler's eyes compressed tightly in reaction to waking up with a headache. He lent forward off the tree he was sitting against, groaning and holding his head. He winced as a shout and laugh pierced his eardrums. Tyler squinted, taking in the slightly fuzzied forms of the two male compounds.

"Well, well, well. Looks 'ike sleeping beauty's awake." The youngest out of the two said. His dark chocolate fur was a mess upon his head. Youthful brown eyes accessed the Cavat in front of him He knelt down near Tyler. "How ya feelin'."

"Who cares! It's punishment for bruising my handsome face!" The other compound shouted from where he stood over by the fire, dark and brooding with his black fur glistening in the light. The chocolate Cavat gasped.

"You're so egotistical ya know, Lev. Besides," he motioned to his body." This, is oooh steamy compared to your mushroom face."

"MUSHROOM!"

The teaser laughed and Tyler couldn't help the slight smirk that reached his lips.

"We got a smile Lev! We got a smile!" The chocolate Cavat celebrated! His joy was short lived as a human-sized acorn hit his head. He toppled over with a shriek.

The female compound looked from over by the tree line of the small clearing.

"Can you be any louder? You'll give us away."

"Yeah Luka!" Lev echoed her criticism.

Luka's eyes glinted as he sighted a challenge and took it in his stride.

"Louder you ask? Well-"

"Please don't." Tyler interrupted, his head pounding. "I think I've been tortured enough."

The female did what was assumed a breathy laugh from her nose. Her eyes - a deep bright green that echoed a mental wall of emotions - rolled in mock sympathy. "What do you know, the new kid's talking."

Her voice captured Tyler's memory. It was a mature reincarnation of a familiar childhood. His eyes narrowed slightly but not enough for others to be suspicious of his thoughts. Luka frowned. He didn't like it when people were party poopers. He stood up from his position on the ground and looked at Tyler, motioning his head towards the campfire.
As they sat around the glowing and crackling embers, Tyler was surprised when he was handed a bowl of steaming broth by the Lev. The male left Tyler's side and sat next to Luka, their shoulders brushing at the proximity. Tyler knew there was something going on between the two and had a good idea what. As he ate, he resisted the urge to look in the direction of the subtle periods of stares from the female.

Luka all of a sudden perked up and then started coughing, choking on his food. When the food was dislodged from Lev's hefty whacks, he turned his attention to Tyler.

"What's your name?" The question was so abrupt and innocent that Tyler nearly died himself from food placement. He looked up at the youth with wide eyes that said 'you serious?'. All he got was an eye roll from Lev.

"We've got to call you something else other than 'new kid'." Luka's eyes were still glistening in anticipation. His whole body was jingling with expectation. Tyler tensed. He wasn't keen to share his name with Cavats he didn't know and trust. Not to mention the fact that they were the cause for his Bands suffering. Lev felt his indecision and cut in.

"It's a new life, your choice." Tyler nodded his gratitude.

"Talo. My name's Talo." He said, eyes on the female Cavat listening intently. He gauged the disappointment and grief that came over her at his answer.

# # # # # #

Twitch. Twitch. Pull.

Tyler looked straight ahead not taking any notice of what his hands were doing. He and those he travelled with walked in silence. Luka in front of him holding the rope that connected to his hands; Lev a head taking in the forest around him in distaste, and the female, whom Tyler still did not know by name, leading the convoy and keeping a vigilant eye out for what, Tyler did not know. The human upon her neck pulled her back alongside Lev and exchanged a few words with his human before pulling her away and out of sight into the trees. Once she was gone, Lev perked up and took over her place as lookout.

Twitch. Twitch. Pull.

Tyler smiled slightly and increased his pace till he was alongside Luka.

"You know, the skill of a good knot when holding a captive is of the upmost importance." Luka looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah. And?" Tyler held up the ends of both of the ropes that had tied his hands together.

"I commend you on what you know and push you to learn more." Luka's mouth dropped open and his human just stared gob smacked. Luka was horrified. That was his best knot and no one - except one - had ever undid it. Now he could add another to the very short list. He stopped and Tyler stood beside him patiently. Lev turned around to look at the pair. He was just as shocked as Luka. He walked over and snatched the ropes from Tyler's hands, studying them for any sign of cheating. He returned them not minutes after with no evidence of foul play.

"Bu - But no one's ever be - been able to - to do that! Suranna was the only one! How did you Do IT!" Luka stammered. Tyler just raised an eyebrow.

"Suranna?" Tyler wasn't stupid. He knew the name, he just wanted to make sure it was her.

"Yeah, the female that was with us." Lev replied still looking at the rope. Tyler nodded. Of course.

Tyler just stood there and watched as the boys fretted over the piece of rope. They stayed that way for five minutes, hearing nothing but themselves and the wind through the trees. When they had finally finished gossiping over the incident, they continued on the path they were on, this time leaving Tyler to walk without restraint.

Five miles turned to 6 which in turn turned to 10. Tyler didn't complain. Living with the Alkali Band had given him experience with hefty travel, not to mention it was also his role as a Patriarch and warrior to be as fit as possible. The compound boys seemed to be in shape as well. Though they wouldn't be able to keep up with Tyler if he was in a rush. The female, Suranna, had yet to return and catch up to them. It made Tyler worry a bit, even though he had no right to. What did he after ten years.

After walking for 20 miles, they appeared at a corner to which they rounded. Sitting on a rock just past that sat Suranna - her human walking around atop the boulder. She looked at them with a glare that stated how long they had taken to get there.

"You're late."

"No need to state the obvious." Luka grumbled. Suranna took a once over the group and noticed Tyler unbound.

"What's he doing untied?"

"He untied himself." Luka waved it off. He winced when he saw how dead he was if he didn't elaborate. "We decided to let him go since you weren't there to do a better knot. And he hasn't run away yet so I think we can trust him to walk to the base without any trouble...?"

She sighed and whipped her hair from her forehead before standing up - with her human upon her - and looking Tyler straight in the eye.

"Fine. But one wrong move and he's head is mine."