–Elazar–
Lightly tracing my fingers over the tracks in the mud, my eyes moved up to stare ahead at the darkened forest. The sunlight was starting to fade as they slowly we ended over the horizon, leaving the forest in an orange glow.
A line of tree's ahead of me were marked with the bones of animals and others of my kind, warning that anyone who enters the area is trespassing into drakov territory.
This was the same place I chased the small female to before. I thought she had simply come here to deter me from chasing her any further last time but if that was the case then why would she come back?
I knew something was off when I crossed the River and spotted the animal trail through the twisted trees while following koras tracks, had she been chased by the drakov this wouldn't have deterred them from following her so the only other explanation is that she's hiding out near the edge of the territory.
She must have a decent hiding place if they haven't found her yet. Their territory is large for how small of a tribe they are so hunters and scouts probably don't come around this area very often. But that doesn't mean I should simply walk in without caution.
Getting captured by the drakov is my biggest worry as of now. They would not hesitate to turn me into a ritualistic sacrifice for their 'god' if they found me, I fear they would also do the same to the human female if they found her.
Standing up I gripped my spear tightly as my tail whipped around behind me. I have to make sure she is okay.
Ignoring the warnings I continued forward to follow the marked trees, coming across the occasional track left behind by kora's strange footwear.
It didn't take long to come across the last marked tree near the bottom of a cliff. I glanced around for any other markings but found none. The only thing I did find was more of Kora's tracks, leading straight towards the cliff wall.
Vines and moss covered the rock face before me and I could faintly make out a fissure behind all the foliage, hidden away from plain sight.
Walking towards the rock face I pushed the hanging vines aside and crouched down to step inside.
I barely caught movement out of the corner of my eye and barely managed to shield my face as a tree branch came flying towards me followed by an angry, feminine screech. I stumbled to the side and grabbed the arm of my assailant as my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave.
The small figure before me grunted and tried swinging the branch at me again, this time with less force while screaming 'fik ku' quick to recognize the voice before my eyes even fully made out her appearance. I snatched the tree branch from her grasp and restrained the violent little human against my body.
She screamed and wriggled in my hold as I tried to stop her from hurting me or herself. "Stop Kora! It's me!"
With a grunt she kicked at my legs and I spun her around to face me, holding her arms to her sides. "kora! It's me, Elazar! Stop this! I am your friend!"
She seemed to recognize what I was saying as she paused and looked up at me with those big golden brown eyes and squinted. "E-elazar?"
"yes it is me." She visibly relaxed and I released her, taking a step back as she leaned against the cave wall to catch her breath. She attacked me blindly without even waiting to see who walked in. She must have known that she could have been trailed by someone dangerous. I did not see signs of anyone else tailing her here so she probably sensed danger back at the pond and fled before they saw her.
It was completely dark now inside the cave, with the last of the day's light gone, I could make out a bit of my surroundings although not perfectly. This was a hunting cave. Has she been living here?
Kora mumbled something in her language and slowly moved around the cave using the wall as a guide. I tilted my head to the side watching her as she felt around one of the shelves, looking for something as if she couldn't see.
She managed to grab a flint rock and turned it over a few times in her palm, to confirm it was what she needed.
Are humans unable to see in the dark?
I stepped over towards her and grabbed her hand, earning a startled squeak as her head shot up to look at me. Looking at her face I could see her eyes were dilated but she couldn't lock onto my face.
"Let me do it." She seemed confused as I guided her to the sitting area next to the campfire and had her sit on a fur blanket laid out on the ground.
Once she was seated, I took the flint from her and grabbed one of the jars off a shelf. Opening it, sure enough there was fire jelly inside. Grabbing the discarded branch that she had used to attack me with, I smeared some of the jelly on one end and used the flint and my tail to create a spark.
The fire jelly instantly caught on fire with a blue glow, lighting up the cave we were in and startling the human female I was with.
She watched the blue flames in awe as I dropped it into the campfire and proceeded to add in a few sticks that were gathered by the doorway.
Having the cave lit up enough to see I glanced around seeing very few resources or necessities. The jars that usually held salt, fire jelly, and other things seemed to almost all be empty, the tanning rack was bare and there were only three old worn down furs that I could see.
The water basin was nearly dry, and half of the tools used for basic needs were either broken or scattered about haphazardly.
Kora lacked any real hunting supplies, she had no good furs or extra leathers, there was no food stored away and hardly any firewood. She was living off scraps, her shelter was bare and less than ideal.
Kora did not seem to possess the furs we had at the pool, perhaps the scout took them when he noticed our little camp, then proceeded to wait to ambush me when I returned. A shame considering how badly kora needs supplies.
Looking back over to her I noticed her eyes were on me but once she saw me turn my attention to her she quickly looked away.
I had thought that maybe she had other human companions with her but it seems like she was truly alone out here, fending for herself. I'm unsure how long she's been staying here but she has been lucky thus far. Being on the edge of the drakov territory it's a miracle they haven't seen her.
We sat in silence for a while, watching the flames flicker and slowly consume the wood in the fire pit. Something seemed to catch Kora's eye and she sat up looking at me concerned as she spoke in her strange tongue.
With mild concern, she ended up pointing towards my arm and I looked down to see the bloodied gash from my encounter with the drav scout earlier. I had forgotten all about the injury, it wasn't that deep and most of the blood had dried so I wasn't all that concerned, I had mean more focused on trying to find her than fixing such menial flesh wounds.
Looking back up I watched as she went over to some stuff she had in the back of the cave and pulled out some strange cloth before tearing a stop of it and bringing it over to me.
She held the cloth out and I could only stare at it confused by what she was intending I do with it.
She rolled her eyes before sitting beside me and pulling my arm over so she had better access to it. I merely watched as she wrapped the cloth around my injury like a bandage before tying it off and smiling at her work.
Was she concerned over my injury?
We both looked up at each other and seemed to freeze in place as our eyes met. The beautiful golden hazel color in her eyes put me in some kind of trance that I couldn't break free from. I'm not even sure I'd want to if I could.
She was the first one to break eye contact as she seemed to realize something, and crawled back over to her spot on the blanket. She grabbed the satchel full of her things and pulled out her notebook, flipping through the pages looking for something.
Looking around the cave once more I took note of a strange drawing on one of the walls beside me, made from what I assumed was charcoal and red dye.
Moving closer to the strange drawing, I had a hard time figuring out what I was looking at. One figure seemed to be a person with long hair lying on the ground in their own blood with what I think is an arrow through their chest. Where there should have been eyes, they were crossed out. The other figure was standing above the other with horns on their head and a bow in their hand. They also had many sharp teeth and what looked like a squiggly line connected to their bottom.
As I looked between both images a thought came to mind. Is the one on the ground a human and the other xandisian? Wait perhaps it's kora and-
"No no!" Kora jumped between me and the wall blocking my view. Leaning back some I looked up at her confused, seeing her face was tinted pink. Stammering, she grabbed some dirt and tried rubbing it across the image, smearing it into an unrecognizable blob.
Once she was satisfied she tried redirecting my attention by going over to the hanging furs in the back and grabbing them before bringing them over to me.
"fo sleep" she tried holding the fur out for me as I watched her with curiosity. She waved the blanket in front of me while looking at me. "sleep?"
Reluctantly I took the blanket roll from her to make her happy. She went back to her own fur and pulled her hangover to use as a head rest. She sat down across from me and stared at me.
She seemed a bit unsure with my presence and often looked between me, the fire and the entrance. Is she worried about someone else finding us? Looking to the entrance I stood up and grabbed my spear, sitting down next to it I laid my spear across my lap and looked back at her.
"sleep, I will keep watch."
Her lips parted as if she was about to protest but nothing came out of her mouth and she simply turned her gaze away. After a moment she laid down looking at me once more before closing her eyes. It didn't take long for her body to relax and her breathing to even out as she dozed off.
Leaning back against the wall I watched the fire crackle and burn as I got lost deep in thought. There's so much work to be done here and I'm unsure where to start.
My eyes trailed back to kora as she slept. Seeing her shiver slightly I hesitated for getting up from my spot and stepping over towards her. I unraveled the fur blanket she gave me and placed it over top of her.
The small female snuggled up underneath the fur happily and I sat down beside her enthralled by her peaceful face. Earlier I couldn't bare the thought of harm coming to her and even now all I want is to see her smile.
Reaching out I gently ran my claws through her mane. Seeing her sleeping so peacefully made me feel things that I couldn't quite explain, but I do know one thing. It made me happy knowing she was safe…
I got comfortable beside the small female and gazed blankly at the burning embers. Perhaps I do know where to start.
(note: sorry this took so long guys, I'm sick again and my brain is all muddled, I don't even know if what I wrote makes sense or looks good because i'm sick. 😭 anyway thank you guys for sticking through with me and for all the get well wishes! I appreciate it and love y'all! )