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Railu lays alongside me, gently running her finger through my chest fur, her muzzle is tucked under mine. Despite it being night, and the fact that we've just exerted ourselves, neither of us wants to sleep.

"Roen?"

"Hmm?"

"Kyle's going to offer you something tomorrow, I want you to take it."

Curious, I try to turn my head to see her. "Offer me what?"

She sits up facing me. "Does it matter? If you're the same male I fell in love with, you would just take it."

I sit up and pull the pillows up under my back. "Love, I'm not sure if I'm the same as when I left. My priorities have changed." Seeing the disappointed look on her face, I gently rub her cheek, "What's wrong? It seems like there's something your not telling me."

She closes her eyes, and I see tears start to fall.

"Do you love him, now?"

She sighs and nods. "When Kyle found me, I was a wreck. It was all I could do to survive from day to day.

"After you left, Nilsa stopped letting me come over. Dad was so busy, he really didn't have much free time. I felt abandoned, alone.

"I tried to find someone to finish my scout training with, but no one would teach me. They'd take in other students, but not me. After a while, it started to feel like everyone was shunning me. If Garra was around, I know he would have helped, but he didn't come back from Pridewyn like we thought he would."

She sniffs back her tears, and I reach out to hold her. "I'm..."

"Don't you dare start apologizing to me now," she snaps, and I reflexively shut my mouth. Not only is she crying, but now she's starting to get mad.

"I'm still not too sure what happened for most of the later seven months, but I remember that when Kyle found me, all I had left was scraps of my union dress, and the one you bought me before you left."

She sighs again, getting her emotions back under control. "All I wanted to do was be with you. Kyle made that possible again. I've spent much of the last year chasing after you. Yes, I love him, but as a brother, not a mate. You're my mate."

Fighting my own urge to cry, I pull her to me and put my muzzle under her chin. "I should have never doubted my ability to take care of you."

"You should have never made the decision for me," she states, wrapping her arms around me. "But if it had happened otherwise, we would not be here, now? You will accept his offer in the morning. He needs a scout now, not a tracker."

Knowing better than to argue, I say, "Yes, my love."

The room lightens, waking me. With Railu still asleep, I do my best to get out from under her without waking her. She let me have it last night, after we mated, and I deserved every word of it. Despite that, she still loves me, and I her, maybe even more than I did before. She's grown a lot since I was last with her, matured, and that's something I missed.

Realizing that what she told me to do, I need to do. I grab the crutch and make my way into the tent's common room. I stand there for a moment, agape at what I see. This is by far the largest, most luxurious tent I've been in. As I look around, I see the curtain door for my room, one for Kyle and his mates, and a few more for the others. The thing that surprises me is that the doors hang rigid, like walls, rather than loose fabric.

Suddenly, one of the smaller curtains open, and Kyle comes out carrying a towel. "Roen, you're up. Let me get the rest of my cloths on and I'll finish fixing you up."

Seeing him like this, this furless creature wearing a pair of shorts and drying his head with a towel, I find myself stunned for a moment. The myths were right, humans have no fur. Remembering that I still have my arm and ankle in wraps, I nod. "Kyle, where's your fur?" My own words surprise me.

He smiles and chuckles. "Roen, I'm a human. Humans don't have fur or muzzles, and we walk flatfoot, like the raccoons and pandas. There's a lot for you to learn my friend. Give yourself some time to recover before you start trying to figure everything else out."

I nod, "I'll be outside, when you're ready." He nods and disappears into his room, so I head outside and have a seat in a chair. The snow leopard, Larrah, sets a drink on the table for me.

I nod to her, "Thanks." She nods back and I notice the signet on her shoulder. Curious as to why she wears it, I ask, "What's that."

She sits opposite me, touching the signet on her shoulder. "It's Kyle's signet. I am his guard."

"Guard? Why does he need a guard?" I ask as I take a drink.

"He is a Pendekar of Pridewyn, and Sovereign of Arindell."

"Wait, what?!" I quickly realize the answer. "He was in the Trials?"

"Yes, Kotu entered him, thought he was a Moku at the time. That's why the cub's with us."

"Oh." I take a drink then ask, "Sovereign?"

She smiles, "Yes, that was not his doing. There was a misunderstanding between him, and the council of Arindell. The appointed him without his consent, or knowledge."

Wondering about the details of that, I think aloud, "Hmm, that'd be a story to hear."

"And I'll tell you all about it some day," Kyle states, walking up to me. "Now though, let's get you back in traveling condition.

I look curiously at him, dressed only in a shirt and loose leggings, and ask, "How are you gonna do that?"

"More technology, my friend. This time, it's inside me." He smiles as he puts his hands on my arm. I watch curiously as the warming sensation returns. After a few moments the sensation subsides and he moves his hands to my ankle. As I feel it warm, I also start to feel the bones move inside. I can't help but flinch and jerk as they pop back into place.

"Oww," I groan.

He winces, "Sorry, almost done."

Niku comes over and helps by removing my bandages and dressings as he moves to my cuts, working on them the same way he did my arm and ankle. After a few minutes of this, he gently pats my shoulder, "All done."

After letting Niku remove the last of the wrappings, I cautiously stand. I start to check myself out and see Railu come out of the tent. She comes over to me and puts something in my hand. Without saying anything, she looks at me, then to Kyle. With her words from last night still on my mind, I know what to do.

I turn to Kyle, and hold out the signet she just gave me. "If that offer still stands for me, I'd like to take you up on it."

He takes the signet and gives me a curious look, "Tell me why you want this."

Figuring he was going to ask something like this, I confess, "I would like to say that it's just because I feel I owe you one, but, that's not the only reason. Railu and I talked for a long time last night and she told me a lot of things. I've come to realize that I owe her a lot, and in turn I do owe you, but not for me, for her. So, I'm asking, to say thank you, for everything," he swallows hard, "and because she told me to."

"Starting to trust your mate?" Tayla asks.

"Learning that she's more mature than I thought she was."

"She has her moments," he chuckles, "but, you're right, you do owe her much." He pins the signet on my bandolier, "Your trust should be the first thing you give her."

Knowing he's right, I nod, "I know." I bow lightly to him, recognizing him as my superior. I then turn to Railu and pull her close, rubbing my muzzle along hers. "I will always regret leaving you behind, but, I will forever thank you for coming after me."

She wraps her arms around me, "Just don't leave me behind again."

I hold her close, cherishing her presence. "I won't."

Having recovered my satchel, and Amsel's cloak, I stand at the edge of the cliff looking down at the small ledge I had landed on, nearly ten meters below.

Railu steps up beside me, and takes hold of my hand. "What were you thinking," she softly asks, "stepping off the ledge?"

I sadly confess, "That if I was going to die, I was going to take that thing with me."

She points to our right, to the area where it went over. "It nearly took you with it," she comments.

Seeing the large gouge where its body scraped everything from the cliff wall as it slid down, I realize that she's right. If it hadn't turned, it would have went over right above me, and I'd be somewhere far below.

She backs away from the ledge and starts leading me back towards camp as a question comes to mind. "Love, would you be upset if I took Niva as my second mate?"

She blushes, and then nuzzles into my neck, "Am I not enough for you? Besides, she can't truly be a mate, she's not a fox."

I sigh, conceding her point. "Alright, you would be my mate, she could be my lover, and maybe one day help us raise a kit." I nuzzle into her neck, making her giggle.

She smiles and sighs, "When we get back to Lorholt, we'll talk with her about it."

I stop walking and pull her into me. "I'm so lucky to have you for a mate."

She nuzzles in under my chin, "Yes, you are." After a moment, she pulls away, "Come on, Kyle wants to see you."

Suddenly feeling like I don't want to go, "Why?"

She smiles back at me, "You'll see. He did this with each of us, you're no different."

I sigh, "I guess it can't be that bad if that little squirrel went through it."

She laughs, "Zoe loved it."

I reflexively frown, "Figures."

We find Kyle sitting with Tayla, leaning on each other relaxing. It's obvious they love each other very much, and I pull Railu in closer, and wrap my arm around her. When he sees me, he smiles and nods to a chair with my armor and a pack in it, "That, is for you."

With, nearly everyone watching, I pick up my armor and notice that it looks different. It's all one color again, not the patchwork of different leathers that I've had to use over the years, and all the scars are gone. Suddenly curious, I ask, "What'd you do to my armor?"

"It's been properly repaired, and cleaned, so it's like new. The pack's yours too. You'll find some things inside that I'm pretty sure you'll like."

Setting my armor aside, I open the pack and pull out a new dagger. I turn it over in my hand, noting that it's handle is wrapped in a black cord and it's light, only half the weight of one of my own daggers. Curious about the quality of the blade, I pull if from it's sheath.

"A sword?" I blurt, surprised by how long the blade really is. "How..."

Larrah, Tayla and Railu all pull theirs, showing him that they too have one. Kyle smiles, "Technology. Their called 'pocket blades' because the end of the sheath has a dimensional pocket. That allows the blade to be longer without the sheath needing to be."

I give it a couple practice swings, "Why's it so light?"

"It's a mix of metals, some are lighter and stronger than the traditional steel you're used to."

"In the Trails, I watched Kyle cut through a pair of normal daggers with his," Tayla states.

"It is true, they are very strong and sharp," Larrah adds, nodding.

I look to Kyle and see that he's nodding, "Yeah, felt bad about it too, so I fixed them for her."

Curious but satisfied with the quality of the weapon, I set it with my armor and reach back into the pack. What I pull out next confuses me, "Why do I need a picture frame?"

"I would have you know, that this is not a framed picture," it says, startling me.

I look carefully at the picture on the screen. It's of a human, female, I presume, judging from the voice and few other features I can see.

"Roen, meet Aime, my AI. That's the only way you can interact with her, since she lives inside me."

I look curiously up at him, "AI?"

"Sorry, artificial intelligence. Basically she's a machine that can think just like we can."

"And she lives inside you?"

"Yep. Aime can tell you all about it when your ready. She has a teaching program that she can walk you through on how to use that tablet."

Railu smiles and shows me hers, "I use mine to track our current location, maps kind of old, but it still works."

"I use my for medicines," Niku states.

"Recipes!" Zoe states excitedly.

"I give the children assignments," Tria states, looking suspiciously at Kotu.

"School work and reading," Fey chimes in, smiling.

"Keeping an eye on my children's progress in their studies," Kyle states. "Among other things."

I look back at the picture...or rather, tablet, and shake my head, so much to get used to.

Railu reaches into the pack and pulls out a small bag. "You have your own set of towels and a few changes of cloths I picked out."

I smile, glad to have regular cloths again. "Thank you. Not just for the things, but for my life." Feeling a tear come to my eye, I breath a heavy sigh, "So what's our next move? Back to the villages?"

"You can go if you like," Kyle states. "I have to find out if there's any humans left at the dig."

"I'm going with him," Railu states. "You should too."

I reach over and pull her close, "I said I'm not leaving you again and I meant it. Besides, I'm working for Kyle now and he needs a scout, and you need to finish your training. I can do both."

She grabs my tablet and starts doing some things. When she hands it to me, she says, "Here, you need to read this. Just tap here to turn the page."

On the tablet, there's a picture of a very familiar book. "Where'd you find this book?"

"Kyle picked it up in Arindell. Why?"

"Because it was stolen from me, in Arindell."

I see Kyle frown, and groan, "Janik, I'd bet anything."

I think for a moment, that name sounds familiar. "Janik...the buck at the inn?"

"Yep, that's him. I caught him trying to steal some money. Not surprised he stole from you too. I take it, then you've read it already?"

I smile and nod, "Parts of it anyway. It disappeared before I could read it all."

"Well, at least now, you can read the rest," Railu says happily.

"Why?"

"Because he's one, well, two of the myths."

I look at her, confused, "Two of the myths?"

Well, yeah. He's Human; that's one, and he's The Sleeper; that's the other."

I look back at the tablet, clumsily trying to turn the image's page. "The Sleeper?"

Railu reaches over and taps on the image, turning the page for me, then points. "This one."

"Go on ahead and read up, I'd like to get moving again in the morning, though," Kyle states. "We still have humans to find."