And here we have chapter 2, for anyone who cares. So far, I’ve only got 6 hits on this story (but one review from Irish toaster—thank you!), and that’s a bit sad… Maybe I need to change the summary? If you have any ideas that might help, please please PLEASE let me know… I really want reviews and the sort, even though that’s a common thing to ask. Please, guys, I really am trying, and I wish I could reach you somehow, but if I can’t, then I apologize. Either way, here’s chapter 2. Also, terribly sorry about the time it took for me to post this (hopefully the length'll make up for it). I’ve been swamped with school lately and I haven’t been able to update very often. Hopefully I’ll have the next chapter of DWtD up soon, also. Okay. No more stalling!

Pronunciation:
Sikaten: see-KATE-ehn
Aoi: ah-OH-ee
Frostmire: as is looks
Sahara: suh-HAH-ruh

The sound of laughter woke me from the hold of sleep, forcing my eyes drowsily open and intruding on the silence I was accustomed to. Anyone who was laughing this early in the morning was nuts. I blinked the sleep away, sitting up and rolling my shoulders, eyes focusing on the source of the noise. Angel was nuts, apparently.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” I questioned, my voice quiet and hoarse with slumber. I tried to make myself threatening and knew instantly that, of course, it didn’t work when your face still showed the lines of blankets.

Angel twisted so that his back wasn’t totally facing me, grinning. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” That was bullshit; we both knew it.

“Right.” I was about to say more, but a yawn cut in, forcing me to stop. When it ceased, I continued. “You’re laughing at nothing, and pyros adore water.” (Just so you know, pyros are fire elementals, quite possibly the only elemental that actually has a nickname and water is their fatal enemy… We’ll get into races later, ‘k?) Shaking my head in slight disgust, I rose out of my makeshift bed of pine needles and blankets and grabbed my shirt that had been drying in a tree, glancing back to Angel as I pulled it on. “Seriously, what were you laughing at?”

My friend looked up to me with what can only be described as amusement dancing in his blue eyes as he stifled yet another laugh, the back of his hand pressing against his lips. “Seriously, nothing,” he replied with a shaky voice, his shoulders vibrating with humor. “There is absolutely nothing to be laughing at; therefore I am not laughing.”

I glared at him, folding my arms across his chest, before I realized, as I began to fully wake, my face felt slightly wet… Weird. Keeping the menacing look in my eyes, I raised my hand to my face and felt some sort of…slimy…substance. It was wet alright, but not water-smooth. How I had not noticed it before was beyond me. But still, what the hell?

Angel burst out laughing, his arm wrapped around his stomach and his torso bent at the waist. My glare was the exact opposite of his obvious amusement as I snatched a towel and ran it over my cheek furiously.

“What the hell was that, Angel?” I yelled, throwing the towel down and glowering. This only caused him to laugh harder, his face soon turning a lovely shade of red due to the lack of oxygen. “Angel!”

“L-Look by the t-tree!” he managed to stammer out. When I did, I blinked and cocked my head, for a doe was staring right back at me, her wide eyes unblinking as her body quivered. She was about to bolt, but didn’t, not yet. I couldn’t see the humor in this.

“Yeah… It’s a deer, Angel. Yay. What, do you want me to start the whole ‘doe: a deer, a female deer’ thing? Because I’m not doin’ it if you want me to.” He had been making fun of me for that ever since that one little time that I had gotten drunk and started the song. It was only once; so sue me if I’m not allowed to have a good time!

Angel shook his head, shoulders still shaking. Jeez, it was like he was having a seizure or something. I still couldn’t see what was rendering him speechless.

“Your ch-cheek! The deer li-icked y-your cheek! When y-you w-were asleep! O-over and over! She’s- she’s in love w-with you and wants t-to have your babies!” That started him cracking up all over again as I stared, dumbfounded. The slimy wetness on my cheek, remember that? Yeah…deer spit. Ew. Just…ew.

I felt my face screw into a mask of disgust, my eyes squeezing shut and my lips a grimace. While I was sleeping, my face got licked by a deer. A fucking deer licked my face!!! “Get your ass over here you stupid bitch!” I yelled, spinning and lunging after the deer, who immediately took off. Ha, no matter. She couldn’t outrun a tiger, and that’s exactly the form I used to quicken my speed and strength. I paid no attention to my name being called as I left our campsite. That stupid thing was going to die.

Oh, yeah, you don’t know about this yet. Heh, you’re probably sitting there thinking ‘what?’ aren’t you? Okay, here’s the quick overview: I’m a weretiger…kind of like a werewolf, but not quite. And, no, werewolves are not men who change into wolves at only the full moon and lose all sense of humanity, despite what you’ve heard. Anything that’s a were-something is kind of like a shape shifter that can only change into one other animal, except, unlike shape shifters, no characteristics stay the same as when we’re in our human form. …Sorry, I kind of suck at explaining things, and you’re probably lost. But if you’re not, then good for you, because I don’t know how else to explain it. Maybe I’ll explain some more later, yeah?

So anyway, I took on my tiger-form as I lunged after the deer, feeling my paws hit the ground hard, but quietly, and soon enough, I caught up. And then I saw that she had a fawn. No, I’m not compassionless nor am I void of any mercy, so I stopped, staring. How could I hurt something that had a young one to care of? As far as I knew, that’s exactly what happened to my mom. Then again, she could have just left, but who knows? I’m not supposed to be making this a depressing story, so I won’t. Like I said before, Angel’s all the family I need.

I felt a light pressure on my shoulder and turned to look up. Lo and behold, it was the man I was just speaking of. Big surprise, huh?

He was staring at the doe and her fawn with a strange expression though, and when I glanced back I saw that there were two, not one, fawns. Guilt flooded me. I had just been about to murder the deer. Well, maybe not literally murder, but it could be, considering we needed food. But here she was, with her two young ones, and I could do nothing but stare, like my friend.

After a few seconds of the five of us watching each other, I slowly shifted back into the form of a man, standing almost even with Angel, and looked at him in curiosity. “What’s wrong?” I started. “Cat got your tongue?” My words startled the family of deer away and I found it hard not to laugh at their bouncing, but continued waiting for Angel to speak. He was still silent. Attempting to get his attention, I raised my hand and waved it continuously in front of his face, annoyed that I was getting absolutely no reactions. He was staring at nothing, like the air was extremely fascinating or something. Can you say ‘blonde moment’?

“Hello? Angel, come on, snap out of it. Angel. Angel!” Finally he jumped, his eyes flickering to mine, bewilderedness meeting concerned confusion. “What was that all about?” I asked, folding my arms and narrowing my eyes. It wasn’t like the deer were mesmerizing or anything.

“Nothing.” That was it. That was all I got in lieu of an explanation, a ‘nothing.’

“Hey! Don’t turn your back on me!” I reached out, spinning him around by the shoulder, and immediately stepped back. The look in his eyes could only be described as furious. Really furious. He was pissed off, but why?

“Leave it, Gabrial!” Turning around again, he stormed forward, in the direction of camp, leaving me standing behind, completely and utterly dumbstruck. Appropriate words? What the fuck?

I let my breath out in a whoosh, turning and glaring the deer that had brought this on, standing now maybe thirty paces away. “I blame you, you miserable little creature.” My gaze landed briefly on the twin fawns, which were both looking terribly confused and worried. “Shoo. Be gone,” I ordered angrily before jogging after my friend. Good Lord but he was frustrating sometimes!

“Angel!” I yelled, the word leaving my throat in anger, not consolation. Probably not such a good thing when I was trying to get him to explain himself.

The camp was empty when I got back, the smoldering remains of our fire indicating he’d only just left, considering it had been roaring when I first chased after the deer. Lovely. “Goddamnit, Angel!” My foot left the ground in a furious kick at a tree, chipping bark and sending it flying. Why the hell couldn’t he just clarify what was going on sometimes?!

This time my sigh was defeated, resigned, not frustrated, as I sank to the ground, my back propped against the same tree I’d almost murdered. Sorry, tree, wish you were Angel. Oops…that was mean. Oh well.

A good hour passed and he hadn’t returned, leaving me to wander aimlessly, always staying close to camp on the off-chance that he would decide to come back. I didn’t even have any way to contact him, despite how much I wanted to, despite how much I needed to know what was going on.

“Hey.” His voice came from behind, and I spun around quickly, surprised. Huh. Maybe he could sense when I wanted him to come back. That would be insanely handy, wouldn’t it?

“Hey.” I stared at him, my arms folded, as I expected an apology. When none came, I spoke. “Now are you going to tell me what that was all about?” With any luck, guilt would get to him and he would spill everything that had been on his mind. Somehow, it seemed that I was never very lucky.

“No.” Angel’s face didn’t show the sternness that was in his voice, but I could tell he wasn’t perfectly calm, a bit of coolness surrounding him. Maybe I didn’t want to get close… Yes, that would be the wise choice, I believe, despite my tendency to not think wisely.

A moment passed. “Please?” Okay, now I felt like hitting myself upside the head, because didn’t I just say that you leave it alone would be the wiser choice right now? Why yes, you might say, I did. So why was I pressing the issue? Yeah…not the wisest of people, as I just admitted. In fact, I was receiving a very disapproving glare right now. Jeez…he wasn’t my parent or something, and I was nineteen--not a child any more! Even if I did act like one every now and again.

Angel sighed, turning back around, and began to gather his things. He was debating; I could tell. Because I’m, you know, amazingly observant like that. Plus he was muttering to himself. Finally, he spoke: “No, Gabrial, I’m not going to tell you what that was about because there isn’t a need to right now. Sorry, but, that’s just how it is. Leave the subject alone, alright?” At the last few words, he turned to look at me over his shoulder, raised eyebrow and all, in challenge to any defiance I might pull. You see, this is where I actually did the smart thing instead of just thinking it: I nodded, not answering.

The minutes of awkward silence passed. No, that does not mean a gay baby was born… I am highly against that stupid statement that humans came up with. Their lifespans are so short that they end up being narrow-minded: I’m straight/gay/bi! Yay for you. We foreign? We’re different. We live long enough that we have come to recognize that, hell, love is what it is, no matter the form it’s in. For all I care, someone could fall in love with an animal. …Okay, maybe it’s not quite that extreme, but you get my point? No, that doesn’t mean we’re attracted to every person we meet, or we look over everyone we meet for potential attraction, just like I’m sure you guys don’t do that either, but- Sorry. I’m going to shut up now in the chance that I’m offending you horribly. Well, I don’t really care, but…never mind. I’m done.

Anyway.

After that uncomfortable little silence was in the air, I, of course, felt the need to say something. To say the first thing that came to mind would be stupid, and probably unrelated to anything before, so I had to think. What to say…what to say…what to say to a friend who’s pissed-off-but-not at you? Huh. That was a new situation, for sure.

“So…where’d you go?” Okay. Among the stupid things I could have said? That was probably somewhere at the top of the list. Why, again, would I bring up something that had to do with him being mad at me? Sheesh. You see, it was times like these that I thought I could use a lesson or two in the art of speech. Hah.

Angel looked at me over his shoulder, his left eyebrow raised in that cocky manner that he knows I hate. “Around.” Mm, he was feeling very loquacious today. I can’t believe I just used ‘loquacious.’ I don’t think I’ve ever used that word in casual conversation before. But anyway.

I waited, and he didn’t speak any more, so I did. Again. Probably not the best thing to do, because I’ve come to learn that when I speak to him when he doesn’t want to be spoken to, I usually end up getting hit. Hard. “Around...where? In the forest?” Well, duh; we were surrounded by forest—how could he not be referring to ‘around’ as in ‘the forest.’ I mean, it wasn’t as if he could fly or anything with only one wing. Oh….oh…I have I haven’t explained what Angel is, yet, have I? Should probably do that, ‘cause you’re probably confused again. Remember how I’m a weretiger? He’s a…half-breed, really. He’s a mix between a water elemental and a shape shifter. Don’t ask me how his parents met each other and even became attracted to each other, because I don’t know and I don’t know if I even want to know. So, he can actually control both really really well, which is surprising, but the thing is, pretty much no animal is advantageous for him, because he can’t fly, he can’t run real fast (think cheetah or something), and if he were to try to swim like a fish, he would probably go in circles. Yes, I know it’s a funny thought, but refrain from laughing. Please? Okay, I would laugh too.

So, yeah, it’s a little complicated, telling a human about foreign, but that’s okay; we’ll get there one step at a time. I sound like I’m trying to console a crying kid. Lovely.

Moving away from those matters… There really wasn’t anywhere else close. Had to be the forest that he was referring to, so again it came to the fact that I asked stupid questions. I needed to stop doing that.

“No. I went to the ocean.” Say what?

I stared, my voice flat. “What ocean?”

“The ocean to the west…” He spoke slowly, stopping to look at me as if I was crazy, but come on, I knew I wasn’t crazy! There was no ocean to our west! Well, okay, there was an ocean to our west, but it was, like, a week away! Running! Without stopping!

“How the hell did you get to the ocean and back in the span of, what, three hours?!” Yes, I was skeptical, and I wasn’t afraid to tell him that I was skeptical. And curious. Very, very curious. He, of course, being the all-revealing man he was, shook his head, smiling, and began walking again. “I swam, Gabrial. You know what I am. You also know that there is a river here that runs directly to the ocean.”

Ohhh, yeah. I had forgotten about that. Now I knew. “See, that wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” Oops—I spoke before thinking again, and winced, expecting a vocal or physical rebuke. To my surprise, it didn’t come, only a soft laugh and a shake of the head. I scowled. “You’re acting weird.”

“When do we not act weird, Gabrial? It’s you and me.” He had a point. “By the way,” he began as he stopped again, turning to fully face me, “you might be interested to know that I saw Ausaire and his closest, well, not friends, but the ones he seems to trust most hanging out at their camp about two thousand paces downstream.” I stared at him, dumbfounded.

“And you waited until NOW to tell me this?!” The idiot! We could have left already! This was my chance to get to know Gen. Ausaire and maybe join him! If I was good enough, which, actually, right now I was pretty sure I wasn’t, but maybe I could train with his- uh- Okay, Angel was right, what could we call the group he hung out with? I knew their names…their last names at least: Sikaten, Aoi, Frostmire, and Sahara, but what were they to him? Who knew. Even so! Maybe I could train with one of them and eventually be good enough to join them, right, because if they were that good, then they knew how to be that good and what to do to get into Gen. Ausaire’s troops! Which was a good thing! Yes, I know I sound like an excited kid at Christmas right now, but bear with me.

I spun around, bolting towards our camp to make sure I had everything I needed, and Angel laughed as he followed me. “We need to get everything and then go before they leave! It’s not often that…that…” I slowed down and eventually stopped, frowning. I had never heard of Gen. Ausaire being so far from his home with so few people. What was he doing?
“Have your senses finally caught up with you, Gabrial?” Angel asked as he joined me, tilting his head to look at me while I thought. I nodded.

“Yeah. What the hell he doing out here?”

“Maybe looking for you.” I glared at the joke. I wasn’t some sort of criminal. But still, I couldn’t figure out why he would be out here in the middle of nowhere. I mean, Angel and I, we traveled. Gen. Ausaire…he worked. He didn’t do anything without a reason. So what was the reason?

“Angel?” I questioned after a moment. He cocked his head further, questioning my question. “He didn’t happen to look pissed off, did he?” My friend laughed at the inquiry and shook his head.

“No, Gabrial, he didn’t look pissed off. He didn’t look happy, but I would guess that’s pretty rare for him to look happy.” Which was probably true. Still. I did NOT want to run off to encounter a pissed-off dark elf general. Powerful one at that. No, that would probably mean death, and not a fun one. In fact, he would probably feed us to his fun little master of torture. At least, that’s what the rumors called the guy. I shuddered. I wouldn’t want to be a prisoner in their manor.

“Okay, well, if he didn’t look pissed, then I say we go for it. Maybe we can go, and I can talk to him, and then I can train with one of the people with him—you’ll be good enough already, of course—and then we can join up with them!” I grinned at the amazing possibilities and once again launched towards camp. This had the potential of being a rather incredible day.