FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Kaya was still sniffling an hour later. Ty had decided it was best to find some herbs he knew to patch up Feria, instead of going back into town and endangering them further. "How are you feeling?" Ty ask Feria, hearing her panting for air, while he held her up, her arm draped over his shoulders.

"That mint is working its way into my wounds," she said, struggling for breath. "it feels good. If my heavy breathing is what has you so concerned, I just never got away from that tavern much. Walking long distance is just another thing to get used to."

Ty could see the blood dried into her fur. She had lost quite a lot, but the herbs had stopped it with relative ease. Heading west, Ty started smelling a fresh water spring, and felt the air grow cold. "Heh. I feel that," Feria said, losing her footing and cringing. Ty could guess which of her injuries she strained in the effort to stop her fall. "I hope the water is as cold as I think it is. My wounds will numb up quickly and then I can focus on getting some rest."

As far as Ty could tell, Feria had defended Kaya, even though she had no real reason to. He wanted to ask, but figured it could wait until all his and Feria's wounds had been tended to. Even though the only wound he could feel on his body was the cut on the right side of his head. Then they found it. That stream which Feria dipped into, pressing her thumbs into the hem of her shorts.

Ty turned away, out of respect, seeing Kaya undressing for a quick bath as well. And it would be just that, quick. "You two enjoy," Ty said as they undressed. "I should look for more herbs to hold us out for a few more days."

"Okay," Feria said quietly. Ty could have been imagining things, but she almost sounded regretful that he was leaving. "Hurry back."

Ty spent about an hour wandering around, picking up different small herbs he knew, until he decided it was time to get back. He found Kaya lying in a patch of sun by the spring, naked, drying off, while Feria was sprawled out on her back, lapping water over her body, still getting the blood out of her fur. It was a tempting sight, but Ty managed to hold his composure, setting the herbs in a neat pile.

Feria scrubbed at a tuft of fur, stuck together with dried blood, while Ty removed his leather armor and dipped his feet in the water. The cold of the water instantly sent a shiver up his spine. "Hey," Feria sighed. "Welcome back."

Ty watched silently as Feria continued scrubbing at the blood in her fur, while she lay in the water. "How do you stay so calm?" Ty asked, after a few minutes. "This water is freezing."

"My baths in the tavern were no warmer," Feria replied, running her hands over her wounds, tenderly.

The blood was more or less gone from her fur. All that remained was what held her wounds closed. The most grievous of her injuries was cross her right thigh. That wound alone would have stopped most people from walking. She sat up, cringing with every slight movement. "If you keep going, your wounds are going to tear open again," Ty warned, standing in the water and walking the three steps over to her. The water was only two or three inches deep, with sand covering the bottom.

Feria sighed in defeat. Ty was right, and they both knew it, so it was a better idea to just let him help. He lifted her from the water easily, making her eyes widen. "Honestly," she said, humorously. "If it gets you to do this more often, I might between Jade and her target more often."

"Never joke about that lunatic," Ty said, unfazed by the implications. "She was second only to me in her ability to kill."

After a while of sitting beside Feria, letting her warm up in the sun, Ty decided it would be best if he washed the blood off his face from his fight with Jade. Then a thought occurred to him. What exactly happened during that fight?

Shrugging off the question, Ty lay in the grass beside the pool and began scooping water up the dried blood his fur, scrubbing as much away as possible. Feria waited until he was done, knowing he would scold her for moving too much. While she waited Kaya, the sweet little girl, walked over, as silently as ever. The tiny wolf lay against the tigress, and Feria felt the tears hitting her fur.

"Leave your guilt behind, Kaya" the Tigress advised. "I protected you because I wanted too. There was nothing for it. You need to learn to fight before you can protect yourself. Until then, just let Ty and me handle it."

Ty had been listening in and stood, turning to them. "Feria, avoid Jade, if you can," Ty ordered. "Her sanity is slipping. It will continue to do so, little by little, until there is nothing left. At that nexus, she will be completely unpredictable as raw desire floods her mind. She will become feral, unless she gets what she wants."

"She wants you," Feria said, glaring up at him.

"If only it were that simple," Ty sighed. "Specifically, she wants to have me and keep me, even if it means slaughtering every other living being on the planet."

Feria froze. Ty watched her expression turn from its vehemence to a look of sheer terror. To Ty, it looked as though the tigress was reliving the fight. Ty sat down near enough to them both that either one could lean against him. "Feria, she loves fighting, killing, and hunting," Ty warned. "In walking away from her, I became the most interesting prey she could have found. Do you still wish to travel with me?"

The next day, Ty continued west, followed by Feria and Kaya. Kaya occasionally stopped to swing her spear a bit, figuring out how to use it. Every time Ty heard her footsteps stop, he would look back and watch her progress, all the while wondering if Jade was following them yet. He knew from previous fights, it would take far more than a few broken ribs to stop her. They would slow her down, but how much?

Kaya finished a flawless side sweep, ending at a point straight out from her side, the majority of the spear's shaft behind her back. Five days and she was already showing that she would be able to hold her own. "What are you doing in my forest?" A female voice came from somewhere in the brush.

"Passing through," Ty replied, feeling Feria pull in close. Kaya had her spear ready at her side, Ty watching the background.

"Oh, is that all?" The voice asked. A second later, a panther leapt out Kaya, who turned, bringing the ruby on the bottom of her spear up into the panther's jaw. The panther rolled, wide-eyed, landing with a stone-tipped spear in her right hand. Ty looked her over quickly as he moved forward. Kaya was poised to block the larger woman, who was likewise dressed in deer skin. "Well, well," the panther said, green eyed gleaming. "I suppose you trained her?"

Ty eyed her down. As usual, having the size advantage, he stood his ground. "No," Ty said, cautiously. "What she knows, she figured out herself."

The panther leapt forward, clumsily driving her spear forward. Ty side-stepped, grabbing her spear in his left hand, gazing down at the woman. "I will only tell you once," Ty said as the woman pulled a dagger from her side. She lunged, Ty grabbed her wrist, kicking her in the abdomen, letting go of her wrist and catching the dagger's guard as she was launched backwards. "Walk away." The look she gave him while he held up her spear and dagger, for her to look at, brought back a memory.

_ _

"Ty, remember," the elder growled at him during training, after kicking him to the ground. "If you are ever outmatched, walk away or even run, but never, under and circumstance, try to fight."

"Why not?" Ty had replied. "Nothing can stand against a tiger!"

The elder had laughed, shaking his head. "There are things beyond our strength in the world, young one," the elder had warned. "You will learn quickly what to hunt, and what to fear."

The look of stern defiance the panther held, even when she coughed from the blow her body had taken, made Ty laugh lightly. "You lost," he said plainly. "Either take you weapons and go, or follow us. Truly, will understand either, but know that if you choose the latter, I will hold onto your weapons."

Kaya still held her spear out to the woman. Feria knelt beside the wounded, black cat, offering a hand. Ty waited for an answer, holding both weapons. "Are you being pursued?" the panther choked out.

Ty nodded and replied, "Not by anyone you could beat. Not with such an obvious lack of skill. Though, I did leave her with several broken ribs."

The panther took Feria's hand, standing; holding where Ty's foot had connected. "Where are you headed?" she asked, wincing.

"The next town to the west," Feria said, looking the panther in the eyes.

The panther glared up at her, murder written on her face. "The very people who cast me out," she growled. "I was a child when they threw me out into the woods. Everyone started accusing me of killing my best friend. We had a fight, they were common but we stuck by one another, then she showed up dead between two houses."

"But you stayed nearby..." Feria said placidly.

The panther sighed. "I want her death to mean something."

They continued on, not stopping again until night fall. Ty looked back at the panther and Kaya, and then to the spear he still held. "Catch," Ty said, tossing it to their new companion. "Kaya, I want to see what the two of you can do. I never was any good with spears, but I will teach you what I know."

After three hours, the two of them stepped apart, Kaya breathing heavily the panther shaking on her feet, barely able to stand. "How is she still standing?" the panther demanded, between breaths.

"I never carry her, and I walk faster than she normally would," Ty answered, lowly, making his voice rumble while he cooked a bird rather large he had caught over the campfire. "It has been almost a week now."

"Even I get tired following him," Feria admitted, rubbing a mixture of ground up mint and turmeric into her wounds. Turmeric to fight infection and mint to cool the burning sensation turmeric is known to cause. "Quite honestly, it amazes me just how well she adapted to this life."

Kaya stared at the two of them for a moment before she turned to face the panther, she took one step before Ty yelled, "Come and eat."

After a good meal, they all went to sleep, save for Feria, who stayed awake to watch their new companion. She had yet to reveal her name to any of them, but she trusted them enough that she would follow them. Maybe she feared they might be bounty hunters or something. The fire crackled a bit and the panther rolled over, opening her eyes.

"How long has it been since I last ate cooked food?" the panther asked before yawning. "Why are you still awake?"

Feria sighed. "To be honest, I was curious about you," she said, staring out into the trees. "To start, what is your name?"

The panther quietly stared into the flames as they danced in front of her, her eyebrows folding together. "To be honest, I have no idea anymore," she said, rolling onto her back. "I was only five when the town cast me out like a feral animal. Another eleven summers after that, here I am."