Misunderstood Destinies

Suddenly being spooked by the reappearance, Layla let her shield down for a split second. The very tip of her tail lit on fire, in which she blew out quick. "You're getting much better at this." She laughed.

Jargos looked worried about her tail, but nodded

Layla glanced at the sky, in which the sun had now already set and the moon was rising.

"Perhaps it be best if we take a rest to gather supplies and such for the night."

Jargos extinguished the fire and nodded. He began to work on fixing up the campsite

"I'll see if I can find us food out in the forest. Perhaps we'll run across some elk or some sort of other animal."

"Thou art ready to hunt on thine own?"

"When one travels on her own one must learn how to hunt to feed."

"I understand. I thank thee" He started working faster to finish up

Layla headed out into the forest, sniffing around for nearby prey.

Jargos had everything cleaned and tidy in a matter of moments

Within an hour, Layla returned, in human form instead of wolf, while carrying a deer on her back. Upon entering the campsite, she placed the game next to the fire and laid back against a tree. "Hunting those things as a wolf is energy consuming."

"Thou shall become accustomed to it" Jargos said then gutted and skinned the meat away from the camp, the but it on the spit. He gathered a bit of firewood and started cooking

Layla felt a sudden change in the air. As if there was something coming. "I can't help but get this strange feeling. Do you feel it? I'm not sure what it is."

"Aye, but I am too weak to do anything about it until I eat. I hope we have time, I don't want to shift"

"I'd go look around in the wolf form to sniff it out but even I need to wait until after dinner. I'm out of energy from hunting that game down. Never did I expect it to be so hard during this time of the year."

Jargos nodded and simply began to eat parts of the deer that were still raw.

Layla suddenly saw a small sphere begin to form in her hand. "Someone's trying to contact me?" The connection opened up.

"Layliana, do you have a moment to speak?"

"Proceed, Mother. It's good to hear from you."

"As to you also. I bring some distressing news from Zeiza."

Jargos offered her a piece of meat as he ate more. It was bleeding a bit

Layla denied for the moment, silently asking for time to finish her call.

"Mother, what is wrong?" Layla nodded for Jargos to listen in.

"Elder Ramona contacted me today, demanding to know where you are now. She knows you found your friend again -- And hello, Jargos, by the way -- and she's angered that the patrols have yet to find you. She says that if you don't return to Zeiza then she'll send out every Guard and Warrior on hand to find you."

"Then tell her to send them. We'll finish them off."

"Layliana, why don't you just come home?"

"Mother, if I come home, they'll strip my powers and we don't know if I'll survive that. I'd have to fake my own death to have that happen, and I'd need a potion for that. And if in the case I'd run the risk of being unable to survive it, someone would've had to have a power I gave away to reverse the process. I'm not running that risk. Too much is at stake here. And by too much, I mean the life of the patrols, Jargos', and mine."

Jargos did not respond to Layla's mother, but continued eating to regain his strength. He had no fear of the Guards or Warriors, he and Layla would have no trouble fighting them off

Layla heard her mother sigh. "Just be careful out there, Layliana. I can hold up the fort here, but I'm worried for your safety. If I hear anything else, I'll contact you. Be wary of the patrols like I told you before. Airen is on the leading group."

The connection dropped. The last sentence her mother spoke felt like nails scraping stone to her ears.

Jargos knew she was in pain, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. This made him upset

Layla sighed. "I'm still angry with him. He should've just left it alone. I don't care if he's a Guard. He should've just left it alone. Him of all people to pull such a stunt like that. And now he's treating you and I like... Like game. Him, Elder Ramona, the Guard, the Warriors. All of them. It's sickening. They wonder why I left. All of them do."

"Nay, I am the game, thou art far more valuable"

"I believe that all are equal. My life is no more valuable than yours. Of course, in Airen's eyes, it wouldn't matter. He's already made it clear that we're rivals from here on out. Somehow, one night, I made connection with him. He's made it clear where him and I stand." Layla stood up to pace a bit. In anger, she put her shield as strong as she could and hit her fist dead into the center of a tree. Small dents were made. She didn't feel a thing. "He doesn't know that something like that is how I feel about him right now."