Tisis

Healing days (S)

As Nym gives me to understand the next day, I am still in no condition whatsoever to go looking for the colony, what with my arm being in even worse condition now than it was before the sky fell down.

Which still leaves the problem of 'where to stay'.

Thankfully the dogs still consider me their Alpha, despite being little more than a cripple at this point, so it is quickly arranged, that Julia and me stay with the tribe until I'm healed up again.

I swear, Julia was seconds from bouncing all over the place, when the messenger dog came back from the female I put in charge.
...and regrettably I have to admit, that part of me would've liked to see her bounce...even more regrettably a fact, that was neither lost on Julia or Nym.

I curse myself for being so pathetic, but as Julia cheekily reassures me, 'boys will be boys, sort of engaged or not'.
I swear, she's doing that on purpose...whether she derives some sort of pleasure from teasing - no, this is more than just teasing, at this point, it has crossed into plain torture - or what her problem is, I cannot say.

...and what's even worse in a sense...Nym doesn't even seem to care.
But I know just how much power is hidden in that compact frame of hers...and I'd do very well to not incur her wrath...unless I have a death wish.

The memory of how I basically fled the colony after beating Rob down, disarming and threatening a bunch of guards and all that flashes past my mind.

...I guess I do have a bit of a death wish.
Otherwise I wouldn't be here...would I?

Heh...fun.
I can almost hear, what Julia would say, if she knew what I was thinking about...that there are things more important than personal safety...and then she'd get all sappy and tell me, how great it is, that I've found love with Nym and what not...but at the same time, she dances and prances around in front of me, wearing a perfectly tailored fursuit and...

...and I need to cool myself down now...good thing the dogs have a water source all for themselves...a bloody underground river emerging from the stone right inside their...I think Nym called it 'den'.

I walk inside, past the resting dogs, who only eye me wearily, squat down and splash some water into my face, looking at my distorted reflection as the droplets fall back into the flow.

"Sirus worried?" a deep, yet gentle voice asks me from behind.

I turn around to face the female I had put in charge...'the great mother', as Julia has come to call her.

"Yeah, I guess...ah yeah, thanks for having us...and sorry for intruding on you like that...what with me saying that I wouldn't show my ugly mug around here again.

"You good. Part of tribe now. This home of tribe. This home of you."

I sit down and wipe a stray droplet from my face.
"Yeah...I guess it is...still, thank you very much. I...I don't know how I can repay you, honestly."
"You brought new female to tribe. You start own tribe?"
"Julia? Err...no. I mean...I'm...kinda with Nym now. Y'know, the purple one."
"I remember. Strong girl. Yet sad girl. Carries heavy."
"Yeah...that's her..." I mutter solemnly.

The great mother walks next to me, her claws making audible clacks on the rocky ground before she plants herself next to me.

"You hurt," she states.
"Yeah...bugger almost tore my arm off."
"Traces of feral brother. You stronger than feral brother. You smarter than feral brother. So how you get hurt?"
"Yeah, funny story..." I start and then explain, how we were out gathering stuff, when that bastard jumped at Julia and I just managed to shield her with my arm before I could take him down.