Rise of The Fallen
Ch 45- curiosity and the cat

–Elazar–

How did I not notice I was being followed!? How did I fail to see Kion tailing me!?

How could I have blindly led someone straight to Kora!

An endless number of questions and worries raced through my mind as I held the boy down.

Kora could do nothing but stand off to the side waiting for me to do something. But I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this or if I even can.

Why! Why was he out here! Why did he have to follow me?!

Kion whimpered and struggled beneath me but I kept his arms behind his back and his tail pinned to the ground while he was face down in the dirt. Faux! I don't know what to do!

Did anyone else follow or come with him?! I tightened my grip on Kion's arm and quickly scaled the surrounding area for any movement or traces of someone else being in the area.

Seeing none was both relieving but also worrying. What if they took off? What if they go back to the tribe and tell everyone what they saw? They could be sending out a hunting party as we speak!

Kion cried out even more as so many possibilities on how this could go wrong raced through my head.

"Elazar!" Kora came over grabbing my arm and I looked at her panicked, I can't lose her. "You're hurting him…" she spoke in English and my thoughts came to a halt as I looked down at the youngling who was whimpering with his eyes squeezed shut. My claws were digging into his arm and my grip was much tighter than necessary.

He's still young, he doesn't pose a threat like a full grown adult… What am I doing? I released the hold I had on Kion and got to my feet standing over him.

I kept hold on one of his arms with a firm grip but made sure not to hurt him further. He may not be physically adept and pose a danger in a normal sense but should he try to run and tell someone about any of this…

Shaking my head I tried to focus. I need to deal with one problem at a time. "Kora, rope!" I looked at her and spoke in what bit of English I did know. It was hard for me to speak it but I could understand it decently.

She seemed surprised and quickly untied the vines around her waist before giving it to me. Using the vines I bound Kion's arms behind him and secured his tail to one of his legs to prevent him from cutting himself free.

Kora watched on confused as I pulled the boy to his feet and quickly dragged him to our campsite. "Elazar what are you doing?!"

"Others we must leave!" I tried to explain and gestured to the surrounding forest while gathering our supplies one handed.

Kora glanced around fearfully and looked at Kion conflicted while grabbing the rest of our things. It took seconds to get our things together, but every second felt like an eternity. As if each second spent here, my tribe's warriors would be another step closer to reaching us.

"Do not speak or utter a single sound." I warned Kion before pulling him with us as we moved far away from our camp.

None of us spoke as we traveled, leaving a winding and confusing trail that might have confused anyone who followed. Tensions were high as we pushed forward for hours and uncertainty plagued my mind.

I led us to the healing springs and told Kora to set up while tying Kions hands to a tree as a precaution. He didn't say a word to me and kept his head down in submission. I'd never intentionally hurt the boy but at the moment I can't simply let him go.

Once he was secured I stepped back looking him over and ran my hand over my face. He peeked up at me from his spot on the ground but tensed as Kora came up Behind me.

She was worried we both were. "What now?" She spoke quietly and I turned away from Kion to face her. "I- I don't know..." I admitted.

We may have prevented Kion from telling the tribe for now but once night falls, my people shall realize he hasn't returned. They will send others out to look for the missing youngling. We can't keep him here.

"El, I don't think tying him up is the right move, he's just a kid. Look at him, he's scared enough as is." She rubbed her arms out of nervous habit while looking towards the boy and I growled in frustration while looking towards the forest.

"Maybe we could talk to him?" Returning my eyes to koras I could see her soft smile. But behind that smile there was just as much fear and uncertainty coursing through her as there was through me. I nodded in agreement and we both looked at the youngling.

Kora cleared her throat before cautiously approaching the boy and speaking. "Hello!"

Immediately upon her approach, kion whimpered and tried to scoot back, away from her in fear while watching us with wide eyes. Of course he's terrified of her, of humans… with talok and the others constantly talking bad about them and over exaggerating About the dangers of humans kion had had no real encounters to go based off of.

Kora stopped in her approach, frowning at the scared boy. Sighing I put my hand on her shoulder and nodded as she looked at me.

I need to be the one to talk to him.

She hesitated before stepping away and giving us some space. I watched her walk away before looking at Kion and crouching down before him.

"Why…why did you follow me out here?" I questioned and the boy lowered his head in shame, avoiding my eyes.

"I-i wanted to know what you were up to-" he stuttered.

"Kion, you know it's dangerous! Why not talk to me?! Why go behind my back and spy on me!?"

"I did! I did try to talk to you but you were too busy! You hardly paid any attention to me or anyone else! You just kept disappearing for days! We were supposed to go to shestal days ago but you were gone! I thought it was because of ratha and the hunt but you seemed unphased by her earlier today…" I could see tears forming in Kion's eyes as he spoke and I realized where I had messed up.

Faux, so that's what this is all about… truthfully I forgot about our trip to shestal, I had promised to take kion but then I found kora and those plans completely evaded my mind!

Groaning, I ran my hand through my hair and stared at the ground. This entire situation is all my fault…

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to leave you behind, it's just- something else happened, something important and I just–" with another sigh Iknicked myself in the head with my knuckles.

Kion watched me before glancing towards kora. Behind the confusion and fear, there was a sense of curiosity and understanding.

"Elazar?" I stopped moping to look back at kion as he watched me. "Why are you with a human?"

Why am I with a human? How did I even explain what all has happened? "It's complicated." I looked back to Kora who was currently making a campfire.

As if starting to understand, Kion sat up straighter and spoke a bit more confidently. "Is the human the reason you kept leaving? The reason you were gone?"

I didn't want to lie to Kion so I looked him in the eye before responding. "Yes."

He mulled over my answer before asking another question. "I thought they were violent and ruthless monsters. Why are you helping one? Everyone says you can't trust humans."

"That is true for most. But kora- she is different…" My answer seemed to help Kion relax a bit more. He was no longer scared nor attempting to break free, perhaps things won't turn out as badly as I first thought.

The boy watched kora curiously as she got a fire started and warmed her hands, even in the situation we were dealing with she still managed to smile. "Are you courting her?"

I didn't respond this time and avoided his eyes. I couldn't expect Kion to understand my reasoning nor my choices. Things were so complicated as they were, I didn't know where to begin or what to say. Despite my lack of response however he seemed to come to some sort of understanding with the situation.

"You are… you care for her, that's why you've been avoiding everyone, why you've been spending so much time away from the tribe. You think they would hurt your mate?"

My eyes met the boy's as I looked at him surprised. Perhaps he does understand.

"The others do not see humans as good. They would sooner kill Kora before allowing her anywhere near tribe grounds. I've grown very close to her…I'd sooner raise my blade against Roku and the others than allow them to hurt her."

Kion was silent again, thinking to himself.

"Elazar!" I turned around to see Kora waving me over. "Come get some water and ointment for both your injuries!" Standing up I walked over to her as she held out a small container with medicinal ointment inside. And her water container. I smiled a bit at her consideration before nuzzling the top of her head and whispering my thanks.

Returning to kion I looked over the scratch marks I left on his arm and scowled. I hadn't meant to injure him, but in my panic I ended up digging my claws into his skin.

I quickly applied the ointment to his arm before opening the water canister to take a drink as I sat beside him.

"I think I understand." Kion spoke up, drawing my attention.

I looked at him closely as his eyes moved to kora and everything she did. Hesitantly I cut kion's ropes, freeing him from his restraints. He looked at me shocked as he rubbed hisnsore wrists and I called Kora over.

She seemed a bit worried but came closer nonetheless, taking things slow as kion tensed. She kneeled down in front of Kion and I reached out to stroke her back reassuringly. "Hello, my name is kora! you must be one of Elazar's friends?" Kora greeted the same way I first had when I met her.

Kion didn't respond at first and Kora's smile fell as he watched her, still cautious and nervous. He seemed to regain his composure and gained a look of determination. He returned the greeting enthusiastically, and even introduced himself much to my relief. "Kion, you may call me kion."

"It's wonderful to meet you kion." This time he glanced at me. "How do you speak our tongue?"

Kora turned her head and smiled at me. "Elazar has been teaching me many things about your kind. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here."

"Do all humans look so strange?"

"Strange?" Kora asked, puzzled.

"Yes, your skin is very pale and pinkish, you also don't have horns or a tail or any claws… your eyes are also a weird color!"

"Kion" I spoke up in a scolding tone making him flinch. I didn't need his questions to hurt Koras feelings and make her feel insecure.

Kora's hand grabbed mine reassuringly and she laughed at Kions remarks not seeming the least bit phased. "Well I suppose I do look strange to you! Humans all look a bit different but yes we lack most of the extra bodily parts you spoke of.

Her lighthearted tone reassured me and Kion, making him more curious. "How does your kind survive without such?! Oh and what is it like in the stars! Roku says humans fall from the sky! How do you not get hurt when you fall?! What do stars look like up close?!"

Kora happily answered kions questions to the best of her abilities as they got to know one another. The more comfortable kion became with kora the more my worries over our predicament faded.

If Kion became her friend then he would no longer be a threat to her safety.

Hours passed as the two of us taught Kion many things about Kora and humans in general. He's always been interested in learning new things so I wasn't at all surprised by the overwhelming number of questions he had.

The youngling had a lot of energy and could be quite a handful at times but kora seemed to handle him much better than expected. And truthfully I think she enjoyed having someone else to talk to.

I have been her only company since she came to this world so having someone new to talk to seemed to brighten her up quite a bit. Especially with all the problems we've had as of late. It was also quite refreshing for me as well.

As it started getting late however my worries came back, as the sun's started to set. Kion and Kora were sitting by the campfire toying with her belongings as I stared out into the forest.

I looked over my shoulder and watched them as they talked and smiled. Kion was excited by his newfound friend but he couldn't stay, he needed to return to the tribe. I only hope he does not speak of kora to anyone else when he returns…

"Kion!" I called him over and the two looked in my direction before parting ways. The youngling came to stand beside me but his smile fell as he noticed the look on my face.

"It's getting dark." I spoke up. In turn. He looked to the sky then back to me. "The others will grow suspicious if you are not back home before nightfall. You have to go back." His eyes briefly went to koras form and I could see the disappointment in them as he realized he had to leave.

Grabbing his shoulders I drew his attention back to me before taking on a more serious tone.

"I beg of you not to speak to anyone of this. You can not tell Anyone about Kora! Not yet. Pathetic tribe is still out for blood to avenge paku's brother. Hearing that there is a human they will immediately assume the worst and come after us. I can't let that happen, I need to know that you will not say anything that you will keep kora's existence a secret until the time is right."

Kion's gaze hardened with a newfound look of determination and he bowed his head. "No one shall hear of this. I promise."

Relaxing a bit more I instinctively pulled Kion into a hug and relaxed. He was startled at first but returned the action briefly before we pulled away. Without another word he took off into the forest and I watched as he disappeared.

"You're gonna let him go?" Kora spoke up Behind me and I turned to face her.

"Yes. I cannot promise you what is to come or that kion will stay silent but I have faith that he will keep his word. For now we can only wait until morning and see."

Kora smiled before grabbing my hand. "If you trust him, Then I'll trust him too." I held kora close as we watched the sun set and the flora around us take on a particular bioluminescence.

Once it was completely dark I decided to refocus my attention elsewhere and swept kora off her feet, catching her by surprise as she squeaked.

"What are you doing?"

"What I brought us here for, The healing waters, soaking in them should help your arm heal and my injury close. Remember the last time we were here? These waters helped you to recover much faster than normal... There's no reason for us to focus on Kion when there is nothing more we can do."

Kora relaxed but a coy smile quickly washed over her face as she reached up and grabbed one of my horns, making me stumbles and look down at her.

"Fine, I needed a bath anyway, but this time I'm undressing myself!~"