A God's pack

Day 387 (my 50th post!)

Things hadn't changed much since Sar'ene had taken hold of the Rain forest at their feet, he wasn't the type to be interested in the lives of mortals so he was more than happy enough to let them live without bothering them. Time had grabbed Relis at the first opportunity, something that shocked the Scout as he was dragged out of camp by the coat, and warned him of the very real possibility of Sar'ene killing him without hesitation if the two ever crossed paths... the threat making the outlaw much return to the kind of schedule he had when he had first joined the pack to Rem's upset. Astaira was being more open, more obvious, about her affections for Vaitelin but the hunter seemed to be resisting it to a certain extent... something about 'respect' but Time really hadn't cared enough about their situation in order to listen in on a conversation that had nothing to do with him. Hercules had gone back to hunting per usual almost immediately, seems the thick scaring on his side slowed him down none, and Felis was much the same as she had been. Things had settled back into place, into calm. 

Tonight was another Time and Aika kind of night, in front of the fire as it popped. Time was so at peace with everything, the temperature next to the fire perfect for someone like him, the calm air quiet, that he had nearly passed out with the baby in his arms. Aika alerted him to the movement, babbling unintelligible sounds, causing Time to rub his hands over his eyes and blink tiredly at the darkness. 

"What is it, Ai? Hearing things?" he squished the small being slightly into a small hug, careful as always with such a fragile thing. He really didn't think anything of it until he felt the thickness of the air. 

"That is... the priestess's baby?" Sar'ene's voice, the God was running a hand through his hair as he gracefully approached the fire. His ether was so strong that he could probably see everything as if it was a cloudless morning right now. 

"Yes, he is. Don't give her shit about it." Time responded, watching as his cousin rounded the fire behind him and carefully sat down on the stripped log that Time had, up to this point, been using as an armrest. Under the flames glow the markings that Sar'ene had been blessed with when he ascended to God-hood began to glint, glare, and dance like gilded stars instead of just markings. Time was a little jealous.... only slightly more so than he was of Rory whose cursed markings were similar in the light. 

"Ya'know, if I didn't know any better I'd think he was your son, Iniko." the young-God choked on that, putting a hand to his throat as he sat up and gave the other God a disgusted and offended look. Okay, now this was just getting hurtful. What kind of person did everyone take him for? 

"He's not!" he defended himself, tone sharp and confused.

"I know, I can tell he isn't actually related to you. He has no ether, whoever the father was this... small mortal is pure werewolf." Sar'ene blinked brightly glowing orange eyes at him, causing Time to sigh as he leaned back against the log and tried not to take it too personally that he had even bothered saying that to him... in a way it was nice to know. Good to know that Aika was just a werewolf and that he'd have no problems with the pack. He'd be just fine here. 

"I have no idea why everyone keeps saying things like that, I'd never stoop so low as to take advantage of Robin like that." 

"If he was I would have made the assumption that she had taken advantage of you, not the other way around." Sar'ene responded with his usual, cool, collected, regal voice... but Time still gave him a scrunched up confused look that made the True God's face crack into a small smile in response. 

"Why in the world would you think that?" he asked, which only caused his cousin to laugh place a chaste kiss on his temple, the most amused look on the God's face. 

"Still blind to the desires of others, cousin? You'll learn someday but I will not be the one to burst your bubble." Sar'ene's voice was uncharacteristically light, open, he was normally a very closed off kind of person who faked perfection like he needed it to survive. 

"I'm the blind one? You have trouble communicating with even the most basic of mortals." Time responded, to which his cousin nodded in agreement as he looked around the camp with a level eye. 

"To be fair, I never said I wasn't blind... we simply have different things we can't see." hm, a fairly humble answer for someone who was usually so vain and overconfident. 

"Alright, I'll bite, what's got you in such a good mood?" 

"What?" Sar'ene didn't take that poorly, thankfully, raising an eyebrow and never dropping his smile. 

"I remember you being this aloof, holier than thou, asshole who always told me what to do, so what gives?" there wasn't any bite or aggression to his tone as he spoke, but a harsh prod into Sar'ene's side would make the same point without being as harsh.

"Maybe I just missed you, Iniko? Plus, you aren't exactly a child anymore so I don't feel the need to talk down to you?" oh. Maybe it was because Sar'ene's ether was so strong but he could feel only genuinity from him. Like he was sitting in a pool honesty. That reminded him of how open he had been with Astaira when he had annulled their betrothal... maybe the change was that Sar'ene was just being more himself because he was a God now... or because he had realized how lonely he was without them. Time couldn't decide... maybe his perception of the desires of those around him actually was bad. 

"Hm..." the God shifted, sitting up straight like a predator that had caught the scent of something. Time glanced up at the other man, realizing how late it was.... and the very real possibility that Relis might have just accidentally tapped the edge of Sar'ene's ether. 

"What is it?" 

"I... could have sworn that I just sensed a healer but... not like one I've ever met." that fit the description for Relis's ether pretty spot on. Always low, not very powerful, as he made little more than he needed to survive as far as Time could tell, like a young Healer but strange and sharp. 

"Oh? Not like the Healer that lives in the ancient forest then? They watch us pretty closely." he offered, hoping that with some nudging that Sar'ene would think himself misremembering the autumn healer's aura. 

"No. The Healer had a very strong, almost flooded, ether that was crystal clear.... like water. This.. is... like chilled gold?" Time hadn't got that feeling off of the outlaw, he wondered if that was the Shapeshifter cutting in like a knife and turned precious in the glow of ether or if that was some note about which bloodline of healer that Relis had originated from. 

"Can't say that I've ever experienced an ether feeling like gold before... like the metal, the concept, or the color?" he prodded Sar'ene for extra information, the question causing the God's eyes to furrow. Oh, shit, that was a bad idea now he was focusing on Relis like an owl would a mouse. The space God just seemed to get more confused with whatever it was he found by attempting to investigate the strange being on the edge of his power, shaking his head and deciding to drop the search for now. 

"You seem to attract the oddest people to you, don't you? Like a magnet." 

"What does that weird-feeling healer have to do with me?" he was pretty sure this was Relis they were talking about but he couldn't think of any reasonable conclusion as to why the outlaw's ether would indicate him in any way. 

"I don't know.... their ether... kind of reminds me of yours in an odd way. I can only assume that you know them, somehow." Sar'ene stared at him intently, looking for an answer, but Time didn't respond with one. His confusion must have been obvious because the True God didn't press him any further with questions and went back to trying to figure out the strange living puzzle that had basically fallen into his lap. Why would Relis remind Sar'ene of him? He could hardly tolerate the man on the best of days, the shapeshifter's presence being enough to put him on edge, so it's not like they spent much time together in order for him to leak ether into the blond like some kind of broken cup... right? So.. if that wasn't it what were the other options?.. that Relis had actually been as untrustworthy as he had thought and had been slowly draining ether from him? Time frowned deeply at his thoughts, he had given that outlaw a chance here and if that was the case he'd break the monster himself. 

Time jumped as Sar'ene lightly kicked him with the toe of his boot, an action that would no doubt leave a bruise on his leg. 

"Stop picking at your hands, they just finished healing after you set them on fire." 

"..I swear....I don't do this very often anymore."

"Really? Or maybe the people around you don't know to look for it." Sar'ene obviously didn't think much of the perception abilities of his followers, if nothing else Bear would have noticed with how ridiculously sharp he was. He'd notice if Time got a fucking paper-cut with how observative he was. 

"I think they'd notice."

"I don't." Time shook his head, this wasn't really an argument he wanted to have... plus he never won when he and Sar'ene got into a fight like that. Not that he'd win a fight against the True God in general right now considering he was still an Heir-God and nothing more. Sar'ene seemed on alert again, and while Time would have liked to be able to find out why his own ether was suffocated under the Space God's so he couldn't even sense if he should be concerned or not. 

He should have been, Tero came in assisting Relis in walking who seemed half-delusional and also seemed to be trying to protest. Time jumped to his feet, hoping that Sar'ene hadn't yet realized what Relis actually was and that if he stood close enough to the shapeshifter that his own ether would drown his out. Hopefully.

"What happened?" he asked Tero, trying to make it seem like he was tense from this and not because Sar'ene and Relis were now crossing paths for the first time... in the middle of camp. 

"It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and Relis tried to stop me from tripping off a cliff like a dumbass."

"What's...wrong with him?" 

"Broke his leg. It took me a while to get him free and moving and... here again, he was more coherent earlier." Tero seemed to feel guilty about it, and Time was struggling not to rub it in with how terrible his timing was. Couldn't this Tero have waited to nearly get himself killed until tomorrow when Sar'ene wouldn't be here?

"Relis... that is another one of the people you adopted?" the tone on his cousin's voice was different, he could tell there was something off about the blond but, based on his expression, he couldn't tell what the oddity was. 

"Wow.. I don't think I have met a True God before..." the blond's voice cut in, making Time wince as Sar'ene was given an excuse to size up the wounded man. 

"I would think not, there aren't exactly many of us."

"Yes, Relis is the one Rem mentioned... I'm more vouching for him than anything else though." he wouldn't stretch and call the outlaw family in any manner, especially not know that he was left wondering if the shapeshifter had been taking ether from him like a rat stealing rice off the floorboards. 

"Sorry, I need to see about.. fixing his leg." Time moved to take Relis from Tero, who seemed relieved by the gesture and stepped back from the blond man the second he thought he could without dropping him. Tero wasn't weak, but Relis was easily the tallest person in the pack and having to half-carry him up the side of a mountain had probably been pretty taxing on the young adult. 

"I'll stick around, actually, if you don't mind." Sar'ene knew something was off enough in order to not leave just yet, having caught the small attempt at getting him to go away and now more curious than he had been before. 

"Yeah, sure, if you could just bring me the herbs we have in the storehouse that'd be great." he responded, the space God gave him a look, he had no obligation to actually do as told... he was the ruling God after all, but the dark man huffed and turned his orange eyes to Tero. The scout sighed, doing a small 'follow me' gesture, befoe leading the God away to help him get the items that Time had asked for. Now... to get Relis to sit down by the fire so he could see the damage. 

"What do you think is happening right now, outlaw?" he asked the man, who seemed to be perfectly fine with being helped across the clearing even if he seemed to be particularly aware of gravity.

"....something... dangerous?" his voice had a strange quality to it that immediately made Time think 'fever'. Normally the blond was very pointed, precise, and articulate with his words but for the moment he was slurring them. Fine, he wasn't in well enough condition for Time to be mad at him for putting himself in a situation that could get him killed. 

"Well, you got that part right." Helping Relis to sit down in a way that wouldn't make a broken leg worse was a little difficult, he was quite lanky after all, but he managed it without the blond making any particular complaints besides wincing. Time kneeled next to the man, pulling the curved dagger from his boot that he had once used to rip open Hercules's furs to check his wounds, and began to cut through the thick pants to remove it from the bloodied area. Relis seemed beyond confused, icy blue eyes clouded with the same haze that was making him so slow at understanding. 

"How did I... get back to camp..?" perhaps just a little bit of clarity, not sure where that had come from but he glanced up at the shapeshifter. He seemed dizzy, confused, and somewhat lost.

"Tero brought you back, do you not remember?" Time responded, making sure to talk clearly so to make it easier for the unwell individual to understand him. 

'I... no." Relis tried to pull away from Time's knife, the movement forcing the young-God to still him and accidentally put pressure on the part of his thigh that must have been broken. The blond hissed, he must not have felt the damage until now, attempting to remove Time's hand from his leg with a shaking hand. 

"What are you doing?" he hissed, but his tone wasn't aggressive. It was pained, and maybe a little afraid, he had no idea what was happening and the sudden shock through him probably made no sense with the lack of context he had. Time removed one of his hands momentarily, mostly to move it out of Relis's currently poor range. Moving too much hurt him so there wasn't much he could do. 

"Your leg is broken, I'm trying to help you." 

"It.. what?" seemed he didn't believe him, the shapeshifter grabbing the excess material of his pants and attempting to lift the leg of it to see the damage. Now Time was the one removing his hands before he caused real damage. 

"Stop, you're going to make it worse. You're a healer, you know better." Relis still looked like he didn't understand what was happening but he dropped his hands to the log he was sitting on, his fingertips now coated with a stain of his own blood. 

"I... I do not remember that at all... what happened?" he didn't seem of the mindset of trying to stop Time anymore, so the young-God began to cut through the pant-leg so as to remove the fabric as painlessly as possible. The small amount of pressure he used to pull the dampened, dark, bloodied fabric away from the leg was enough to make Relis squirm, seemed he didn't deal well with pain, but it was necessary if he didn't want to risk cutting the shapeshifter. 

"From what Tero told me, he nearly tripped off a cliff and you saved him. You broke a bone so I assume you ended up going over the edge instead. Not sure how it happened though." the dagger cut through the last part of the seam without a problem, now it was simply a matter of removing the clinging fabric from the wounded area without Relis waking the entire pack... actually, that might not be a bad thing considering Sar'ene was here. The extra mess of mortals might help to further confuse him. 

"I'm sorry, Relis, I wasn't paying attention." Tero, Time glanced at the brown-haired werewolf as he kneeled to drop the supplies that he had gathered. 

"It is dark... I am sure you could not even see." it was, in fact, dark but the way it was said caused the young-God to frown. Standing up, he firmly took the shapeshifter's face and forced him to look up at him. It would be hard to tell, in most cases, the state of a non-glowing person's eyes with how dark it was but Relis's eyes being such a pale color made the change hard to not see at this range. His pupils were severely enlarged... he didn't really know what could cause that, he wasn't a medic, but that was probably a pretty bad sign. 

"Can you see?" he briefly wondered if it was painful for your pupils to be like that for any real amount of time. 

"Yes...you are very blurry, though." squinting like he was trying to clear up his vision, that probably wasn't going to help.

"He's probably in shock, losing enough blood fast enough can do that to you." Sar'ene's voice was cool, Time stepping back without thought as the space God moved to examine the man himself. Relis seemed confused at first, giving the True God a dizzy look, but quickly relaxed when Sar'ene ran his hands through his hair... most likely to check for any possible head injuries. 

"You said he saved you from falling off a cliff, does that mean he fell instead?" Sar'ene questioned Tero, who swallowed and gave a guilty nod in response. 

"Well... I'm not seeing any other obvious problems so that's good. I imagine he fractured his femur, which can definitely induce shock... or kill you." 

"How do we stop the bleeding?" Time asked, Sar'ene had always been the smart one so he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that he had some idea of what he was talking about even despite not being a healer... if Relis wasn't so completely out of it maybe he could be helpful right about now but he'd have to trust that his cousin knew what he was doing. 

"You reset the bone, I'll worry about the bleeding." the calmness of his tone made Time want to believe him, so the young-God kneeled back onto the ground and began to peel the soaked fabric away from the brokenness. To his surprise, Relis didn't respond much to that, whining and squirming for a second before going still. Sar'ene's ether had thickened so he imagined he was probably what had caused Relis to stop being difficult. Now... to set the bone. 

POV change; Sar'ene

"So, what actually happened?" the dark man was merely watching as the mortal attempted to collect a random assortment of herbs for Iniko in the dark, fumbling with how low light it was. Werewolves could, perhaps, see better than humans but their eyes were still pretty garbage in unlit buildings. 

"What do you mean? I just explained what happened." the brown-haired werewolf responded, voice tight, blindly running a hand over the thick-wooden medium between two carved pockets which were filled with dried, and powdered, ingredients. Sar'ene stared at the youth with sharp eyes, he could see the way he had tensed at the hardly hidden accusation. He could feel the lies on the air around him. He frowned at the stranger's back, while he didn't particularly like mortals he liked lying ones even less. 

"No, you made up a story and Time was too busy thinking about something else to notice." the man paused, hand hovering over the porcelain container that he had seen his cousin use before when Hercules had been similarly hurt. The intentions were in the air, so strong he could almost touch it like smoke. This werewolf was considering making an attempt at attacking him, an image of a bloodied Iniko in his mind's eye leaving him with the impression such a thing was possible, whatever it was that he was doing such a bad job of hiding was something he was willing to get exiled and possibly killed for by the look of it. Or, it was just the mortal desire to do something stupid and ill-thought-out.

"I wouldn't, if I was you, Time and I are on completely different levels of God-hood." he warned, causing the werewolf to turn to give him a glowing-eyed look of confusion. Thinking about what he knew, what he could feel, what he was aware of, and how dangerous he was. This man could only see him based on his own glowing eyes of orange, but even if they had been having a 'fair' fight Sar'ene could still see worlds better than any werewolf could. That was just the inherent flaws of mortals being, another thing that made them worth less.

"Did you push that man, or something?" he prodded, an accusation in an attempt to get the werewolf thinking on the topic so he could attempt to brush against one of the memories. So he could parse out what was real. He saw a brief glimpse of the blond-man going over the side of a cliff but the orange-eyed wolf shut the memory down before he could figure out the context of the fall. 

"No, of course not! I would never do something like that!" he defended, scowling at him before turning to continue his earlier attempt at finding anything useful for Iniko. There was honesty in that statement, so much so that it shed a bit more light on the lie. It hadn't been this man's fault that Relis had broken his leg, then. Something that was the blond's own fault then. 

"Tell me what happened and I can find the herbs for you." the man, ah vaguely calling himself 'Tero' in his inner monologue, looked at him with something akin to disgust. He didn't like that he wasn't going to help without getting something in return, didn't like being strongarmed into talking, and he didn't appreciate how calm Sar'ene seemed about that Relis fellow bleeding to death in the camp. 

"Fine." the 'Tero' growled through his teeth, more like a wolf than any human he had ever met."We were pursuing a target and Relis walked into a trap, he hasn't been sleeping much so he's been having trouble seeing for days. I don't want him to get in trouble for it, it's not anyone's fault." finally, some honesty. Tero seemed to have expected some kind of response to the story but now that Sar'ene knew that it wasn't anything that Iniko would be too fussed over he had completely lost interest in the details. Keeping his side of the minor agreement, as a God does, the man pushed past the werewolf and quietly picked up a few of the porcelain containers, and a carefully folded piece of crude cotton, which he shoved into the, essentially, blind mortal's hands. 

"Take those to Time." he said, no room for argument in his tone. The 'Tero' frowned at him but turned and left in a hurry, allowing Sar'ene a moment of solitude to figure out what this Relis fellow was. He had been the individual, the 'healer', that had ether that felt like cold gold but at this distance his presence should really be stronger even if he was bleeding to death. The ether available to the blond man was equivalent of a child's... in fact that 'Rem' thing that Iniko had taken in had a deeper pool of power to draw from than this guy and, if Sar'ene was correct, he was the oldest person in the entire camp. How could someone who had lived such a long time have such a weak pull? Was it a sickness? No, he didn't feel anything corrupted or creeping in him-... he felt something like a gnawing hunger instead. A moment of it, just a moment, but it was enough to tell Sar'ene what he was looking for. A predator in rat's clothing. Healers felt like rodents connected to the stars, peaceful but capable of bringing the wraith of the celestial if pressed, this man did not feel like that. The Relis's ether felt like a lion, starving,  collared by the neck. Like a threat. 

Sar'ene took a deep breath, the way that Iniko had been acting it implied that he was aware that this man was no mere Healer... maybe he even knew exactly what he was. Underneath the ether and Healer-facade there was something else... but Sar'ene was having an amazingly hard time at picking past the shell to find the specifics. He'd need a more proper investigation. Whatever it was was powerful, though, being able to withstand even the bite of a Ruling God's knife like that. Stepping out of what he now knew was the storehouse, the True God crossed the clearing and stopped about a foot behind the bloody blond creature. Iniko had the thing's face in his hands, examining him with a frown on his face. 

"Can you see?" supposed he had missed whatever that was in response to, not that it really mattered. 

"Yes... you are very blurry, though." the creation responded, narrowing ice-colored eyes like it would magically fix how unfocused his eyes were. Even from this distance, Sar'ene could tell that this Relis had dilated pupils. 

"He's probably in shock, losing enough blood fast enough can do that to you." he didn't like to exert himself over family, it didn't feel right do that to those he knew so well, but Iniko was very willing to allow his ether to convince him to step away after how he had helped Hercules in the past. The God-heir stepped back, releasing the blond's face, allowing Sar'ene to step forward and see the condition of the strange being for himself. Carefully, as he always had to be around the living now, he tilted the Relis's face all the way back so he could look down into the blue eyes. The creature's reaction time was obviously slowed, visible confusion on his face and a dizzy shake that made Sar'ene steading the being against himself so he didn't fall over like a drunkard off his barstool. Tero had said he fell off a cliff, so the broken femur might not be the only problem. The god ran his hands, cautiously, back across the skull of the injured creature finding nothing that was unusual... except for the fact that this Relis seemed perfectly comfortable with him now. That would make figuring out what he was easier, he supposed. 

"You said he saved you from falling off a cliff, does that mean he fell instead?" he already knew the answer, but he was asking to force him to say it again in front of Iniko. The Tero looked guilty, remaining mute, and nodded in response to his question. 

"Well... I'm not seeing any other obvious problems so that's good. I imagine he fractured his femur, which can definitely induce shock... or kill you." the other God frowned worriedly at this, obviously outside of his comfort zone in the current situation. It was a miracle he hadn't started ripping up his own hands again from how uncertain he looked. 

"How do we stop the bleeding?"

"You reset the bone, I'll worry about the bleeding." he instructed, he didn't even have to press any for Iniko to do as told. He knew when he was out of his element and he was not a stupid man, Sar'ene was trying to help for all he knew so he was going to do as told. He was vaguely aware of the Heir-God kneeling and beginning to strip the bloodied fabric from the broken leg but Sar'ene was more interested in examining the wounded instead of watching Iniko tend him... something that would be a lot less difficult if he wasn't squirming over something as simple as having wet fabric removed from the break-area. The True God took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily as he placed his hands on the sides of the blond's face, before exerting his ether over the creature. The reaction this caused was a strange one on the air, normally when you exert ether over someone they'll fight back if you ask for something they are unwilling of but... this creature seemed to be like a blackhole. Sar'ene broke the connection immediately, pulling away his ether, whatever this was it did not respond to being overpowered. He'd had to do something else to keep him still. Well, if it isn't broke... his intention earlier had been to check for skull cracks, bumps, bruising, gashes, but now when he ran his hand through the blond's hair it was a calming tactic. One that worked. Better than it should. Maybe it was something to do with the haze of a mind in shock only being able to focus on so many things. At least he was still now and not causing such a fuss. 

"Has anyone told you how pretty you are?" the dizzy, probably feverish, mortal asked in a tone that was very quiet. It wasn't surprising, he had been staring down at this man for a few minutes and he was very unwell and out of his mind so he was going to say things like he was a drunkard. Plus, he was a God so to any lesser being he was going to be objectively attractive. 

"Yes, but thank you." he responded, coolly, still more interested in figuring out what this being was... even more so now that he knew ether manipulation didn't work. Iniko gave him a look, one that Sar'ene returned blankly. Seemed he was about to set that leg so maybe if he kept the creature busy he'd not end up whining about it. 

 "You are the one called Relis, yes?" he asked, seeing what would occur if he poured his ether into his voice instead of attempting to connect directly. 

"Yes, I still do not know your name, though..." 

"I am Sar'ene-"

"God of Space, and the concept of material." the blond finished for him, blinking icy eyes up at him in an unfocused manner. "I am not supposed to be near you." Sar'ene immediately looked down at Iniko, who was pretending to be too busy fixing the broken pieces of bone in the man's leg to look at him, before he returned his orange gaze to the now drowsy mortal... or maybe not mortal. He really couldn't tell with this one. 

"And, why is that?" he asked, his words would have come out sharp if not for the excess of power he was drowning them in. He wanted to know. Why had Iniko specifically told this follower to avoid him? What was this creature and if his cousin was so sure he'd be upset about it why in the seven worlds of hell would he be protecting it? Everyone knew he wasn't a fan of the mortal peoples, he could do without, but it wasn't like he had a track record of going out of his way to hurt them. 

"Because you would kill me if you knew what I was." 

"Relis." The 'Tero' hissed, growing tense in the corner of his view. Sar'ene untangled his hands from the being's hair, placing them on the sides of his face instead. Yes, he would very easily be able to kill Relis like this if he wanted to. 

"How do you know if I would do that if I don't get the chance to make that choice?" he responded, he didn't have to be able to see himself to know how bright and fire-like he was right now. That happened. His markings and eyes glowing more readily when certain criteria was met. He didn't even glance at Iniko as he got up, based on the sensation he got not only was he done with resetting that broken femur but he was also getting up to defend Relis should the worst happen... not that his cousin would really be able to intervene if he made that choice but it was a nice little thought. 

"Stop toying with him, Sar'ene, he's lost enough blood to fill a cask." an over-exaggeration, but Iniko was right that it had been quite a bit of it. He'd probably go unconscious soon from all of the missing fluid... in fact it was rather his own interference that was keeping him awake at this point. He should have passed out around the time that Iniko had been starting resetting the bone. 

"Hmmm... but I would like to know what he is that is so bad that you've been hiding it from me." he narrowed his eyes at his cousin, for some reason Iniko never trusted him to do what was best for him. If he did end up killing Relis it would only be for his own safety, not out of any sick desire to do so. 

"If I tell you what he is will you promise me you won't kill him for it?" someone's wising up, sounds almost like something he'd say if the situation was reversed. Sar'ene removed his hands from the bloody man's face, dropping them to casually rest near his neck... not like the blond wasn't still leaning back into him for support so he didn't seem all too concerned with the situation. He looked at Iniko expectantly, attempting to lightly press him to get the answer but the other shook his head violently. 

"No, I need you to say it." 

"Smart. Very well, cousin, I won't kill him." 

"He's a shapeshifter." Sar'enes relaxed posture snapped into something else, nails leaving mark on mortal skin, causing the broken monster to attempt to squirm away from his claws. He had thought that Iniko was not a dumb boy but here he was being proved wrong by the continued existence of one of the only living creatures capable of doing people like them harm. No, not only capable but obligated to. That was why this thing was so low on Ether, and why he felt vaguely like Iniko, shapeshifters had no ether of their own and could only steal to survive. A creature such as this was a parasite that couldn't live without a host and his baby cousin had willingly become one to such a disgusting thing. 

"I'll ask once, Iniko, so listen well." his voice deepening a few tones, the natural night in his voice coming out in dangerous amounts, he could see the Heir-God tense. "Why shouldn't I kill this monster right now." 

"You promised you wouldn't, firstly. Secondly, he's only half-shapeshifter and he's done nothing to deserve the death penalty."

"Oh, listen to yourself, Iniko! He's a creature that exists for the sole purpose of feeding off of people like us. That is why his ether feels like yours, he couldn't help himself but to steal fragments from you." how could he be so blind to the danger he had put himself in, Sar'ene loved Iniko deeply but if this was how he chose to live he might have to take the choice away from him. He could tell that his cousin didn't know how to respond to that, he didn't know why Relis's ether felt like his. He couldn't attest to his innocence. 

"Relis?" giving the monster a chance to explain itself? That would only see you tricked.

"Hm?" still like a disgusting mortal drunk from blood loss, even now completely unaware of how much Sar'ene wanted to end him.

"Why does your ether feel like it's mine?" 

"....you are too giving with your ether, you drown everyone around you in it so that even when they leave they still feel like yours... and I am the only person here besides Astaira who can express that." Sar'ene growled in response to the explanation, that didn't make any sense. Astaira was here, in camp, in her house. He could prove that a lie. Being a demi-God she had very little ether, more so than this monster had managed but still a weak amount. Seemed she very rarely used her ether either, she was basically overflowing with an excess of it... and some of it was also Iniko's. Demi-Gods can't steal ether any more than Gods could... so.. the shapeshifter was not lying. Iniko had been emptying himself. The Time God-Heir stared at him expectantly, he probably had no way of verifying with how much weaker his power was in comparison. Sar'ene didn't want to just... let this thing get away but.. he didn't have any proof that he had done anything wrong.... only proof that he was honest. With much hesitance, Sar'ene removed his claws from the creature's torso. He said he'd do something about the bleeding.... he really didn't want to, not even sure if he could heal a blackhole, but he had said he would. 

Drowning a shapeshifter in ether was not something he ever thought he'd do, and it took a lot more out of him than normal healing might. Everything was a lot darker now and he was acutely aware of how much duller his eyes and marks were. Had that even done anything or had that just temporarily stripped him of his power? A cautious hand placed on his arm, before another on his shoulder to help steady him... wow he really couldn't see very well now. And he was off-balance to boot. Great. 

"Are you alright? You look drained." Iniko asked, based on distance alone he'd have to say that Iniko was not the one balancing him... along with lack of glowing features told him it was the shapeshifter creature who had his hand on his arm. Ew. 

"I'm fine, but mark me I am never doing that again." he responded, sudden lack of power making his voice almost as sharp and short as he actually felt right then. 

"You need to lay down." The thing said, Sar'ene scowled in response shrugging off the creature's clawed paws and stepping back... almost tripping in the process. Nice, we are very Godly tonight, aren't we? His balance sucked, his eyes were almost as bad as a mortal's, and his voice sounded no different than it had when he was a mere Heir. That's how bad he had gotten emptied. 

"You should listen to him, he's still a healer after all, plus your markings are almost transparent they're so light." 

"Right, and stay here with a monster right next door. I'll get right on that." seemed biting words weren't enough to keep the Relis from trying to help him stay balanced, so maybe he should actually bite him.

"You can stay in my temple if you'd prefer, its not very far. I don't think you can make it down the mountain by yourself without getting hurt right now." Iniko sounded worried for him, not something common between them... Sar'ene sighed in response. 

"Are you sure you are okay with allowing me to even enter your grounds?"

"The entire mountain is my grounds, Sar'ene, the temple is no different than the camp to me." 

"...very well. I'm leaving in the morning, though." he couldn't stand the idea of being so close to a shapeshifter of all things. This was something he didn't think his view on Iniko would ever recover from. 

Day 431

POV change; Time

While Sar'ene had stated he wanted to leave in the morning, obviously wanting to put space between himself and Relis, Time had allowed his cousin to sleep for several days. When Sar'ene woke up he didn't mention how long exactly he had allowed him to oversleep but it was pretty obvious that the Space God was a little upset about not being woke up. Relis had went out of his way to avoid camp as much as possible for the five days that Sar'ene was down for but it wasn't like the True God would really be aware of that, considering.

After a few days, his cousin began to visit much more frequently than before, Sar'ene's distrust in Relis causing him to be passively protective. Today was one such afternoon, Time sitting near the fire and braiding Rem's hair while Sar'ene watched. The cool of the afternoon, along with the vague unfocused look on the True God's face, reminded the Time God a bit of home..of the sphere. Sar'ene seemed to sense this.

"You know, there is nothing stopping you from returning home." even as a real God his voice still had a draw when he was feeling lazy. 

"What are you going on about? I am home." Time responded without even glancing at the other man, focusing on not messing up. Rem had never had proper braids before, Robin had always done them, so he was a little squirmy under the pressure... Time was trying to be as gentle as he could but a little pull was necessary. Rem had insisted he wanted hair like Time's so he was trying to accommodate but... he probably wasn't quite patient enough for this quite yet. 

"I mean the sphere, Iniko. What's stopping you from returning home with me after you are no longer an Heir?" Sar'ene pressed a little further causing him to frown. He missed the sphere, yes, mostly some of the friends he had left behind and his mother, but he much preferred the freedom of living out among the mortals. The mortals weren't expecting him to get married in the next few months, weren't expecting him to have an heir to 'preserve the family line and traditions', weren't wanting him to be a good little side-God. His pack didn't expect anything of him like that, all they expected was warmth and protection where applicable. It was so much simpler than the political mess back home. 

"Why would I want to go back there? I'm much happier out here, have you seen the sky in the morning from this high? The Godly meadows have nothing on that." making light of the topic, in an attempt to sidestep the actual conversation, but he could feel the way the True God's ether shifted... not getting out that easy. 

"You are happier out here? With the sickening? Surrounded by lesser beings who could turn out to be creatures capable of ripping you from the pantheon?" Sar'ene's voice was that of disbelief, he still hadn't gotten over the fact that Time hadn't killed Relis when he found out what he was. It had certainly changed the way they interacted a bit... to be more like when he was younger. Like Sar'ene thought him an idiot. 

"Yes, I am. I'd rather be fighting the corruption than tip-toeing around the fragile egos of the court. I'm not expected to be anything out here." he smiled as he said this but the Space God only frowned, giving him a look like he was about to explain something simple to a child.

"The mortals may not having any expectations of you but just because you have removed yourself from the sphere does not mean your obligations have ceased to exist. You still have things that you need to do, side of a mountainside or not, and being so separated from the rest of the Gods will only impede that." he knew what Sar'ene was hinting at, the very thing Time wanted to put off, Sar'ene was talking about heirs and marriage just like everyone at court always did. He couldn't help but scoff in response. 

"But what would the pack do without him?" Rem piped up, a frown on his face as he turned to look at the Space God. 

"They would figure something out." Sar'ene responded shortly, Time wasn't sure if he was speaking this way because he doesn't like children or because of the fact that he was frustrated with the situation. The Heir-God stared blankly at his cousin, the two having a quiet stare-down for several long moments before the Space God sighed and looked away.

"I'll drop it if you admit you remember your obligations."

"I haven't forgotten them, Sar'ene. But I hardly think it is fair to press me on it when you aren't married either." his cousin opened his mouth to defend himself, something like an admission on his tongue, before shaking his head and standing up. 

"Fair enough, Iniko. I wont press you on it, but keep in mind that I'm not intending on staying out here away from my own people." that marked the end of that conversation, marked the exit of Sar'ene in general too as he dipped his head and took his leave of the camp. Leaving Time to focus back onto Rem, who was sitting in front of him and toying with a few of the strands of hair that had fallen into his face. 

"Don't mind him, Rem, I'm not going anywhere."  the patchy child smiled as Time began to undo the braid he had been working on. Braids really didn't suit Rem and, honestly, Time didn't feel like putting in the hours to do them anymore. 

"How about instead of sitting here, staring into the fire while I braid your hair, we go check to see how the scouts are doing?" that was all he had to say, Rem eagerly nodded and jumped to his feet. Enthusiasm on his face. 

"I bet I can track them down too!" the youth said confidently, a proud look on his face.

"Oh? Really? Well, I'll follow your lead then, Tracker Rem." he was mostly humoring the youth but it would also make this take longer so it was a win-win situation. Time still wasn't sure how he felt about Relis at this point, he still instinctually didn't trust him, but it had been over a year since he joined and he hadn't done anything particularly worthy of hate. 

Turns out someone must have been teaching Rem some valuable skills because, while slow and often confusing, he did manage to track the scouts. Time was beginning to get a little worried that the youth was going to end up getting them lost when he suddenly bolted forward with an enviable amount of energy. Tero, Rem had seen Tero and that was why he had gotten so excited suddenly. Tracking skills in Rem? Confirmed. 

"Rem? What are you doing out here?" the brown-haired werewolf asked, taking the 9 year old jumping him rather well for someone who looked so surprised. Time cleared his throat, causing the young-adult to look up and a relieved expression to cross his features. 

"Oh, I see. I got worried that you left camp on your own again, Rem." 

"Speaking of alone, I don't generally see you out scouting by yourself, Tero." looking around he didn't see any sign of the shapeshifter, and the werewolf gave him a sheepish smile in response. 

"Yeah, well, see... here's the thing..." Tero fumbled, looking more embarrassed and guilty the longer he attempted to find some way to explain this. Time raised an eyebrow at the scout, crossing his arms to wait for the man to get his story together with an expectant look. 

"I... can't really think of anyway to spin this one." he added with a forced laugh, looking around like he was trying to find an excuse to leave. 

"Then don't spin it, just say it to me." he pressed, slightly impatiently. What good was a scout if they weren't going to give him the honest information anyway?

"There has been an immortal poking around our borders for a month or two now. Relis is investigating it, said that those kinds didn't generally leave the safety of the sphere because of how rare they were... said it was suspicious." Tero explained, but it didn't seem he knew exactly what he was talking about. Not like Tero was a particularly well-versed man when it came to Gods so he couldn't really blame him for being so unhelpful.

"If it has been happening for a month then why haven't I heard of it?"

"Because we don't really know anything yet. We don't know why he's here, why he's pokin' about, and we haven't really gotten any closer to figuring it out. He's... really smart. I didn't want to seem... incompetent..." ah, it was because Tero was still a new scout and they didn't want it to reflect poorly on him. Well, job not achieved because a scout not giving him the information they had was kind of the opposite in what he looked for in a scout. 

"I might think differently if you could tell me exactly what sub-category of immortal we're discussing." 

"I.... think it was like....a.. prophet?" oh. That would explain a lot. A powerful prophet didn't just see important bits, but could look into the future in general so taking one down? Almost impossible for a mortal... which must be why Tero and Relis had split up, because the prophet could see what Tero could do but not Relis. 

"I see, that makes sense then. You wont be able to catch him, you're a mortal, he can see what you intend before you do it." the werewolf opened his mouth before frowning deeply in response, a thoughtful sound leaving him. 

"Suppose we should keep going with you on your path, maybe see if Relis got lucky this time around." it wasn't really an offer, he was going with Tero regardless now, but the brown-haired man was smart enough not to complain. At least Rem seemed happy to be hanging out with the scout, if nothing else. 

Day 437

POV change; Sar'ene

The area that he had taken up as temporary residence was becoming calmer and more comfortable with each passing day he spent here. At first, the Rain Forest had felt like it had belonged to a corrupted, wild and lost, hunter and even the trees still longed for the creature's blood lust, but as the True God stayed longer the jungle began to feel.... like a normal young jungle. The area still felt moldable, few experiences had here, and the trees were mostly willing to forget the way things had once been. While the old memories still lingered, like old cobwebs, the imprint of the previous host was becoming weaker as his own began to take hold. What had once been a dangerous Forest was becoming more serene.

Sar'ene, for the most part, was just enjoying the solitude that the jungle gave whilst lounging in the branches of a low-lying tree. It wasn't often anymore, with being the True God, that he got time to himself and he wasn't looking forward to returning to the constant scrutiny and neediness of the court... but two main Gods couldn't just leave the pantheon at once. He had no choice. He had to go back at some point. He still didn't know what Time was thinking come out to this place in the middle of nowhere, what was there to gain when there was so much to lose. Though, he could forgive Iniko for the poor choice-making, he was still a fair bit younger than himself and he was bound to make impulsive, reckless, choices... but if that was Iniko's reasoning what was his own? He had come out here, spent almost two months in the middle of nowhere far from the court, and on top of all of that he had annulled his own betrothal... what room did he have to judge? 

The True-God quickly became aware of a familiar kind of power moving at the edge of his ether, a mystic that was being chased by.... a rather specific predator. It was strange that such a creature was out here, so far from the sphere, considering. Mystics often were not allowed outside of the barrier without specific reason as, while filled with an ocean's worth of ether, they were often powerless to defend themselves. It wasn't exactly surprising that these kinds of immortals were so rare now, considering their lack of ability to fight back. More interestingly, the ether persuing the mystic like a snake after a mouse belonged to the Relis... the shapeshifter. Normally, Sar'ene wouldn't be inclined to get involved in the petty affairs of lesser beings but he wasn't keen on the idea of letting the shapeshifter feed on any ether, much less on such a rare form. So, Sar'ene got up to intervene. Seemed the mystic was as aware of his presence as he was theirs, considering the trajectory they were fleeing in. 

The immortal being burst through the foliage, gracelessly, almost tripping over a tree root as they looked back to see how far behind their hunter was before darting across the small clearing and hiding, pitifully, behind him. Mystics reminded Sar'ene of rodents for a few reasons; them being mostly incapable of defending themselves being one, the fact that their ether was peaceful in nature being another, but the fact that Mystics were often pint-sized really didn't help him to see them any differently. Even so, defenseless as they were, it wasn't very regal for an immortal to hide like a mouse. Rolling his eyes, the True God stepped forward with a glare of warning as the familiar blond stepped into the clearing. 

"Hello, Relis, care to explain why you are so blatantly hunting this mystic?" he challenged, voice cold. For most immortals, this kind of pressure would cause them to start breathing frost, even in the middle of summer, but black holes don't breathe. 

"Sar'ene." the shapeshifter responded, shortly, giving him a long look before bowing deeply as one should when addressing a Ruler God. The Relis straightened, but did not offer any explanation to the question that had been asked, seeming to size up the Space God with a calculating eye. Sar'ene couldn't help but bristle at the challenge, shapeshifter or not he was a True God and if this creature thought that they stood a chance against him then he would be proving them wrong. 

"I asked you a question, shapeshifter." he could feel the Mystic tense behind him, smart enough to know when they had been saved from a creature that was capable of devouring their ether. That brought up the question on why the being had been running so readily if they hadn't even known what they were dealing with. 

"I am merely protecting our borders, Sir." The Relis responded in a placating tone, lowering his head and eyes in a submissive manner, that Sar'ene responded to by straightening his already perfect posture and lifting his head. "That Prophet has been poking, and prodding, at our border for weeks, he runs at our every attempt to interfere, goes out of his way to trick us, and has laid traps with the intention of harm. I am not hunting him. I am chasing him out." 

"Why should I believe you? There would be a lot to gain out of stripping them of ether for someone like you." Sar'ene didn't trust this creature nearly as far as he could throw him, stepping forward again with a look of warning when Relis took another step into the clearing. He was a monster, but he wasn't dumb. The second he saw Sar'ene's threat the shapeshifter stepped back again with eyes adverted. 

"With all due respect, Sir, if I had been intending on hurting or killing him I already would have. I do not have to be able to touch someone to steal ether, I could do it from here if that was my intention, and I certainly would not have allowed him to enter your domain before striking if I had intended bodily harm." the blond kept his head down as he spoke, only lifting his icy blue eyes as if to examine his reaction after he had finished speaking. Sar'ene narrowed his eyes at the creature, a look of disgust on his face from the manner in which the being had chosen to defend himself, but he couldn't deny the truth to those words. Relis's pitiful amount of ether was swimming with the truth, and his words were honest. Didn't mean he had to like him, or believe him. 

"And, how do you know how far you can steal ether from if you have, supposedly, never done it?"

"Did you not know how far you could exert your ether before you had started using it?" the blond countered immediately, he couldn't give this creature much but he could give him credit for being smart. Sar'ene groaned, rolling his eyes before turning to the Mystic that had been hiding behind him like a mouse. The shapeshifter had called him a Prophet, one of the rarer brands of Mystics but not the rarest kind, and he could see why. This being was very slight, short, almost sickly in nature. Most mystics came in the form of elemental or seasonal, and if he had to warrant a guess this particular Prophet was a Spring spirit in essence. Based on the pale, almost blue, grey hair he had and the other chalky marks of yellow, pale green, and light red he had marked across his hair and face. Eyes deep blue, as most Mystic's were. 

"Any notes to add that might contradict with his retelling of the situation?" he was much more willing to give a Mystic the benefit of the doubt than a monster, he could feel the Relis take offense in the background. Good. The Prophet remained silent for a long moment, seemed they had just realized what they had been using as cover.

"I.... are you... a God, by chance?" the Prophet asked, carefully, voice full of confusion. He couldn't exactly tell why, he couldn't read Prophets or Oracles any better than anyone else could, their minds an island onto themself. 

"Yes, Ruler God, actually. What is one of your kind doing out here?" the mystic looked like he had been caught red-handed, eyes going wide as he tried to figure out how to talk their way out of this one. The being refused to meet his eyes, but it wasn't a submissive or polite gesture, it was a guilty one. "I'm waiting, mystic." 

"Uh, right. Uh, I... might have been exiled, maybe, perhaps a few years ago." oh, he hadn't heard of any mystics getting exiled... that was a very rare thing so that only brought up the question of what this one had done in order to warrant being removed. 

"I see. You may leave now, please reframe from bothering my cousin's werewolves and other pets in the future." he had lost interest in the Prophet, one that had gotten themself tossed out was one that couldn't be trusted. An untrustworthy prophet might as well just be a really good storyteller, and he could have one of his mortal hollowed do that if he so desired.

"Oh, what? Really? That's it? I mean, nice. Great. Thank you, I'll definitely do that." the prophet rambled like a forgetful mortal, Sar'ene waited patiently for the being to leave who bowed sloppily before quickly speed-walking out of the clearing. As far as he could see this situation was over, he turned back to look at the shapeshifter and gave him an expectant look but the blond wasn't leaving as fast as he'd like.

"Well? Your little mouse was freed so go home." the True God stated, very ready to have the Rain Forest to himself again, but the shapeshifter shook his head like a dog getting rain on its nose and took a few steps closer to him. The Relis had relaxed posture, caution in its step as if trying not to startle him, only stopping where he was when Sar'ene shifted into a threatening posture. 

"Yes, well, I do not believe I got to thank you before."

"Thank me? Thank me for what?" he scowled, wishing the shapeshifter would just do him a favor and turn into some less annoying creature... like a fly. 

"For healing me when my leg broke. I have been meaning to thank you for that."

"I only did it because I told Iniko I would, I would have readily watched you bleed out otherwise."

"I know that." the awareness, the quick reaction time, and the fact that there was no anger, or defensiveness, not even a hint of spite, in his voice gave Sar'ene a small amount of pause as he gave the creature a look. "I know that you would have preferred to have killed me when you found out my nature, I know that you would like nothing better than to kill me now, but that does not change the fact that you did save me." the healer took several more steps toward him, causing the pause in Sar'ene to melt back into suspicion. The blond creature eyed him carefully, before kneeling and bowing head-to-dirt. The ether change in himself was almost immediate, and he felt a little dizzy. Generally speaking, immortals don't do praying to each other but when they did it was a particularly powerful thing. 

"I would give you an offering as well, but I did not come down here with the intention of speaking with you today." his ether responded shortly. 

"No? If you want to offer me something why not your dagger?" he had immediately been able to tell, at the mention of offering, that the item held significance to the shapeshifter and the pained look on the blond's face told he was right. There was much hesitance, movements clunky and uncertain, but the creature removed a fairly small decorative dagger from within his coat and offered it in both hands, as one should do. The item had no real value, old and the hilt cracked, but the fact that it meant something to the Relis meant not only would it be satisfying to take but that it would give a very good amount of ether. Only fair for the amount that he had spent healing him. Sar'ene took the dagger, the air going gold the second he touched the porcelain-hilt. He had to blink the gold out of his eyes, liquid dripping and staining his face briefly. Offerings were always an incredibly strong high for the world's shortest second, always shocking. This was no different but he could have sworn he had seen stars. Items of sentimental value were always the best kind. 

"Consider us even, shapeshifter." he said shortly, dismissing the blond with a gesture as he turned the dagger over in his hand to look at it. Old, very old. The hilt and sheath were both made out of an off-white, warm, porcelain color that was engraved and painted in small painfully detailed flowers, scales, dragons, and what looked to be an old Gods symbol from before the barrier. This item had been made with careful, precise, hands and had been kept in fairly good condition for generations... the hilt crack was relatively new if the sharp edges of it were anything to go by.

"Please, be careful with that." oh, he was pretty sure he had asked the shapeshifter to leave twice now. Sar'ene removed the dagger's blade from the fragile cover, causing the blond to wince. The blade itself was dull, it looked like it had been sharpened enough times to shave away the original shape, but it lacked rust so that was nice. 

"Why would I do anything otherwise, shapeshifter? This is obviously historical in nature." he responded flatly, which the blond nodded to shortly as he continued to watch the blade carefully.

"I, uh, could you stop calling me that? You do know my name." Sar'ene rolled his eyes at the request.

"I will consider it. You may leave." another dismissal, but this time the blond bowed respectfully and left as instructed. Finally. At least he got a substantial amount of ether out of the interaction... this old dagger wasn't bad either. 

Day 441

POV change; Time

While things continued to mostly stay the same there was the small amount of tension between Tero and himself now. A scout was worthless if they couldn't be trusted to share what they knew, and while Relis might not be his favorite person he had proved repeatedly his reliability, while Tero had so far only shown the penchant for keeping quiet to save his own skin. Time had taken Relis aside and asked the blond to keep a better eye on his trainee, saying he didn't trust the young adult to tell him what he found without sugarcoating, which the shapeshifter seemed surprised by but agreed to readily. Tero noticed the change, and Time could only image that Relis was probably mostly honest about the reason for it, but so far he had known better to complain about it. For the moment, Tero was allowed to keep his position as scout.. but Time was starting to think it might be smart to replace him with someone who could be trusted to do the job more honestly. Like, Robin. 

It was spring again, and a late one at that due to how high-up the mountains reached, but the air smelled fresh and the grass had come back to turn some parts of his domain a deep green. Time was, mostly, just enjoying a small walk through his territory away from camp and the pack, the freshly finished rain leaving everything feeling clean and new. He wasn't going anywhere in particular, no real destination, just enjoying the change of scenery. Too bad that it didn't seem like the world was keen on letting him enjoy his moment of solitude. 

"Time." the familiar voice of Bear, it was strange that he was separate from the rest of the hunters at this point. Now that Winter was over and the snow was mostly under control again the hunting parties had went back to normal so Bear should be with the rest of his hunting team instead of by himself. Time raised an eyebrow at the tall werewolf, giving him a once-over like checking for injury.

"Did something happen?" he questioned, though he couldn't see any real reason for the man to be following him instead of the team-lead Hercules.

"No, I simply had a... disagreement with Vaitelin. Nothing to concern yourself with." the heir-God blinked at this, surprised. The two had gotten along since basically day one so he couldn't imagine what they two could have been arguing about that was so bad that Bear had left. 

"Do I want to know what you two weren't seeing eye-to-eye on?" he asked with a slightly exasperated tone, Bear at least had the decency to look a little sheepish at the sound a small smile on his face. 

"No, I don't think you would approve of the topic." he added, voice sounding just as evasive as he looked. Time gave the guard a searching look that made the man look even more guilty as he went about not meeting his eyes, now he was curious what it was the two had been discussing that Bear believed he, specifically, wouldn't want to hear about. He trusted the man well enough though, so it probably wasn't a big deal just a casual topic that had been taken too far. 

"Well, now I really want to know." 

"No, I don't think you do."

"Telling me this is a subject I wouldn't like just makes me more curious as to what you two could have possibly gotten into a tiff over." Time pressed, but he wasn't being particularly serious. It was nice that Bear had been willing to approach him after having obviously been ruffled like that, for a while there the werewolf had been avoiding him again. 

"Long story short, we have a bet going about something and he wants to call it early. Thinks he's won. But he doesn't have all the information like I do so I know he hasn't. That's it." being vague on purpose, but that did offer him a bit of understanding as to why the argument had occurred. 

"I'm surprised you two would argue over something like that, seems kind of silly."

"It was more the subject rather than the bet itself, but yeah. Nothing serious." 

"Is the reason why I don't want to know the subject because I happen to be part of the bet somehow?" Time asked curiously, to which Bear just blinked at him and gave him a noncommitted shrug in response. So, yes. He was. If he hadn't been then Bear would have denied it outright. "Well, let me know how that goes for you... and you better not have bet against me." a playful warning, that the guard smiled in response to. 

"Don't worry, Time, there was no betting against you. We all trust that you'll do great things." the werewolf said this with such a warm, genuine, tone that the heir-God almost choked on the honesty of it. 

"Well, glad to know you guys all have such high hopes for me." 

"Only the best. You could never disappoint us, we're all like family at this point, right?" Time smiled in response to Bear's words, feeling warm. Yeah, he was right. This was his new home and these dumb werewolves were his family now. The words made the dull ache he had felt for his old home dull substantially, the sphere would always be there with its slow aging people... the pack as it was right now was a once in a lifetime experience. This just reaffirmed for him that he was right to not leave, to not want to leave with Sar'ene whenever the True-God did, this was were he was meant to be now. 

"Come on, its been a while since I've joined in on a hunt and I think that you avoiding Vaitelin over something like that is dumb."  Bear responded to this with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. 

"You sure about that, Time? I believe the last time we all went hunting together you ended up breaking your ribs." 

"Yeah, but you guys have Drifter now so I should hope you are better at working with inexperienced hunters." 

Bear didn't disagree with his words, merely giving him a non-committed smile, before taking point to lead the God towards the intersection point of the hunt. Time hadn't realized, until the hunter had pointed it out, that it had been so long since he had last helped with this. How useless of a God, had he just been sitting around camp without contributing since Aika was born? Great. 

"So, what's the plan?"

"We're going to lie in wait ahead of the hunting path. If all goes to plan we should be able to intercept the flight path and cut the hunt relatively short." 

'And if it doesn't go to plan?"

"I promise that I won't break your ribs moving you this time." The dark-man rolled his eyes at the humorous tone, following the guard and slinking down to hide in wait where he was instructed to do so. He should do this more often, the hunting parties constantly put themselves at risk for the benefit of the pack, as did the scouts, it was only right to assist them when he could and show them how much he appreciated what they did. Lying in wait, Time held his breath as he waited for the signal from Bear, it felt like forever. Chasing a target properly did take a while, so no way to know how long he'd have to wai-

now. 

The god tensed, preparing his posture, before leaping out and barreling into the elk cow with as much strength as he could manage... which as a God was quite a bit. Completely blind-sided, as well as already exhausted from the long flight she had been in, the elk was shoved off her feet and collapsed onto her opposite side. Time didn't really have any means to kill the target, no knife or similar item to speak of, but Bear had been close by and jumped into quickly finish the doe before her thrashing could cause any damage. 

"Nice!" the voice of Drifter, the youth throwing a hand up in celebration as he dropped into a fair-paced walk. Behind him were Vaitelin and Hercules respectively, all three looking like they had run a marathon... which might not be too far from the truth. 

"Where did you lot come from?" the sandy-colored werewolf asked, voice the usual friendly and open one that Time was used to, running a hand through his sweaty hair to get the longer strands out of his face. 

"Thought you guys could use some help considering Bear bailed on you." Time responded with a sharp smile that caused the guard to roll his eyes. 

"Well... the shorten' hunt is much appreciated." Vaitelin responded, slowing to a stop a few feet away and dropping his hands to his knees so he could catch his breath... now that Time thought about it Vaitelin was the oldest one in this hunting group... and one of the older members of the pack at about mid-30's if he had to guess. 

"Drifter, do you want to try field dressing this one? I want to see if our lesson yesterday stuck." Hercules offered, speaking up for the first time since the two had arrived on the scene... looks like he had been focusing on breathing first. Time couldn't fault the painted man for not jumping to talk to them, while he had been healed from that goring the scar tissue likely still left him a little more out of breath than he had been before. He often forgot about that. The youth nodded, shortly, smiling that characteristic goofy smile as Bear and Time stepped back to allowed the dusty-colored werewolf to step up to the slowly cooling elk to skin and gut her. 

"Thank you for your help, Time. Always nice to end a hunt quickly and cleanly where possible." Hercules added with a small grin, still catching his breath. 

"I'll see about helping you lot more often, I've been being lazy lately and that's no good for anyone."

"Ha, ye'r always welcome among us, Iniko." Time couldn't help the look of distaste that crossed his face when Vaitelin used that nickname, the man bursting into laughter at seeing the reaction. 

"Sorry, boss, wont do that again." the werewolf winked, Time was pretty sure he would be doing that again. Great. Atleast whatever friction there had been between Vaitelin and Bear seemed gone so he wouldn't have to worry too much about drama between them. 

Day 442

Like usual, Time hadn't bothered with sleeping and was up long before the sun was. Sitting on the ledge that overlooked the south entrance of the camp, the young-God leisurely watched the sun begin to rise and paint the sky with beautiful colors. Pinks, violets, yellows, orange, the meadow he had grown up in really didn't compare. The fields down below, at the foot of the mountain, were barely visible from this angle but he could see a few of the flowers swaying in the breeze, the main view being the way that the ancient forest seemed to stretch forever into the distance. It was even more so strange because he could see these mountains from his old home in the sphere... but he couldn't say the same from here. Maybe the sphere hid itself from a distance? Not that it really mattered, he wasn't going back there. 

"Ay', you up early." Vaitelin's voice, the normal conversational tone that was slightly steeped in exhaustion. Strange, the hunting had went rather well yesterday so he should be more rested than usual instead of less. 

"As are you, are you always the first person up?" Time responded with a light smile as the sandy-blond man pulled himself up onto the ledge and dropped to sit next to him, a big friendly grin on the hunter's face. 

"Not always, there has been the rare occasion where Hercules or Surie will rise first." 

"But usually?"

"Yea', I like to be the first one up." hm, couldn't really see why. Its not like the man seemed to particularly enjoy solitude or silence, he was the one who had approached him not the other way around, so he didn't really know why Vaitelin would really care about when he woke up.

"You get up to some trouble I should know about?" he asked with a grin, the werewolf opened his mouth to respond before pausing and trying to figure out how to respond. 

"No... no more so than me and Bear usually do." a sheepish grin that had Time rolling his eyes good-naturedly. 

"Glad that you guys are over whatever disagreement you two were having." 

"To be fair, we made a bet and as far as I can tell he'd not holdin' up his side of the bargain."

"He explained it being that you don't know the whole story, so you don't know that the bet isn't over yet." Vaitelin raised an eyebrow at Time's response, trying to figure something that he didn't really know seeing as he still didn't know the exact specifics of the bet that had been made... he just knew it had something to do with him. 

"Do you know the... topic then?" careful wording, the young-God snorted in response but shook his head which seemed to make the hunter relax a bit. 

"It's nothin' bad, just a little friendly wagger." the sandy-blond werewolf noted, a sheepish grin on his face when Time just gave him a long look.

"Bear said the same, but if I find one of you were betting against me we're going to have a problem." his tone was playful, but there was a certain amount of honesty there. Betting against the person leading and protecting you was a good way to get on their bad side and he was no exception to that. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. 

"Would never dream of it, boss." the sound of the rest of the camp beginning to stir had Time stretching before getting to his feet. He was going to see about joing the other hunting party today and considering how early the ladies, generally, liked to leave he'd have to make that known sooner rather than later. 

"Well, I'm going to try going with Astaira's hunting party today so wish me luck." Vaitelin responded to his words with a theatrical wince, shaking his head with a grin.

"Good luck, boss, yer' gonna need it." with that final response, the dark-man crossed the clearing and semi-patiently waited for the grey-haired huntress to be down with her morning stretching before he addressed her.

"Good morning, Iniko, can I..." she yawned. "Can I help you?" Time couldn't help but wince at the name, seriously this wasn't going to become a thing again, was it? Astaira smiled at the look on his face, but supplied no response. The young-God sighed before shaking his head and speaking.

"I was actually thinking that I could help you." the demi-goddess raised an eyebrow, stretching out her arms till they popped before crossing her arms with an expectant look. "I helped Hercules's party yesterday, I thought I'd assist you all with the hunt today."

"You want to hunt with us?" she responded with a short laugh, Time cracked a small smile in response as he nodded. 

"Yes, I do, I don't think the two of us have been on a hunt together since... long before you were engaged." now that her betrothal had been annulled she no longer winced everytime he mentioned it, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I don't know, Time, I don't think you'll be able to keep up with the likes of us. The boys don't go as hard as we do." 

"Does that include Rory then?" he quipped, causing the demi-goddess to smile as she glanced over at the cursed-werewolf that had become part of her hunting team.

"Fair enough, very well you can come... just try not to hold us back." her smile turning sharp at the barb, leading Time across the clearing to the rest of the waiting hunters. Felis looked impatient, but Surie seemed to be having a surprisingly animated talk with Rory. 

"No, I mean, if that were the case then why would they choose now, of all times, to return to-" Time didn't think he had heard such a long sentence from the dark-haired woman before, but Rory signaled for her to be quiet as he and Astaira approached the group. 

"Good morning, hope you lot weren't planning on an easy hunt today because we have a guest to help so-"

"We goin' fer' somethin' bigger." Astaira smiled brightly at Rory as he finished her sentence, the man huffing when his words seemed to be true and he gave the young-God a look. 

"Great, that's fine be me, but keep up or get left behind." Felis growled, getting to her feet as she seemed to be itchy to get started. 

"Everyone ready to leave? I'm thinkin' we go for a white-tail today." the demi-goddess rubbed her hands together in anticipation for the coming hunt, Surie giving her a small smile before the rest of the party got to their feet. 

"Ay' ya' sure that we should go fer' somethin' like that with an unknown among us?" Rory interjected, Time hadn't talked to the man enough in order to be completely used to his strong accent like he had Vaitelin... in fact Rory's accent was quite a bit thicker than the other werewolf's was even when nervous. 

"If that unknown factor was just some random werewolf, maybe, but this is an Heir-God we're talking about here. Let's go big." Astaira's grin was big and sharp, eyes like glistening daggers, she wanted to take down something larger just to be able to say they could. Time didn't have to even glance at Surie or Felis to know they were rolling their eyes, the non-believers of the pack but he really couldn't blame them for their lack of faith... their people had been left Godless for longer than their whole family-lines had existed for in all likely hood. Now with everyone ready, up, and the mood of the day set, the group made their way out of the west-side exit of camp and began to trek along one of the long, winding, paths along the mountain range. Time followed without a word, he trusted they knew where they were going for this better than he did. 

 He had been placed with Surie, as he understood it the quiet woman generally functioned as the one who would sit in wait while the rest of the party cornered the target into her claws so he supposed that would make them the finishers of the day. It was really the best outcome, that was the thing he was best at when it came to hunting.... not that that was saying much he wasn't really a hunter. Laying low with the dark-haired woman, he waited, trying not to let the quiet twang of her plucking against the bow's string drive him mad. She seemed to be daydreaming, or something, eyes mostly blank, hands making noise on the bow's string, humming quietly as she waited.... is this always how she was when she hunted or? If it was how did they catch anything? 

Just as he was thinking this, Surie snapped back to reality like the spell had been broken. The lithe lady sat up, perking up like a dog hearing something he couldn't, before giving him a short nod and circling the area with a low, careful, crouch. Time still hadn't heard anything yet, so he wasn't sure what she was using to get into this new position but he wasn't going to argue. He watched as the stoic woman drew one of her arrows, pulling it all the way back, before waiting. Had she been wrong? He still wasn't-

Surie let the arrow lose the second he heard the sound of hooves, the wail of the prey telling him that she had hit it. She gave him a small smile, and a nod, before jumping to her feet while re-drawing her bow and running towards the catch. Time didn't really have much choice but to follow. The creature wasn't down yet, but it was now closed into a circle with the three of them, Surie's bow still drawn at it threateningly, the white-tail wailing as it turned around with head lowered in defense. Whenever the creature would turn away from them one of the chasers of the party would zoom in, attempting a swipe at the creature, before jumping back when the target turned to respond. They did have a more ruthess way of dealing with hunting, but he could already see the creature tiring itself out. Wordlessly, Time held out a hand to Surie. The stoic woman gave him a confused look, before handing him her dagger. Now armed, Time waited for his opening. The creature beginning to turn away from him to look at Astaira as she snapped it at, causing the White-tail's head to rear back. Time jumped forward and slashed the creature's breath away, the deer letting out a strangled whine before slowly kneeling and falling to the ground. Hunt successful. And the hunting team looked pleased.

"See, told you that we could handle it. No problem." Astaira said to Rory with a sharp smile, causing the man to roll his eyes and flip her off. 

"You know the rules, Rory. It's your turn to skin it." Surie added in a light, whispy, voice as she shared the demi-goddess's smile. Time shook his head, handing the black-haired woman her blade. Seemed the hunting parties had comradery in common. It was nice seeing them all get along... but he didn't think he'd be hunting with them again if he could help it. A little too drawn out for his tastes.