The Shadows Book One: The War for EarthEnd.

Chapter Fourteen - Nature's Power.

Liki Wolfspirit.

"Liki..." A voice whispered in Liki's ear in his sleep. The Fangren groaned and stirred lightly, ignoring the voice and cuddling up inbetween Blackpaw and Kaz's bodies for warmth.

But the voice persisted, and he realized it was his, that same mystery voice that had whispered to him before when he needed advice. "Wake up Liki...Trust Us. It's time to wake up."

Liki opened his eyes slowly, seeing a shape standing over him in his blury vision. There was little light in the tent since it was nearly the middle of the night, but he could see two pure white eyes staring down at him. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes on the Beast over him.

"Who...?" He whispered and blinked once more, but the person had vanished upon his speaking and a puff of purple smoke was left his place.

"Shadow Creature...?" Liki wondered, remembering Blackpaw's description of the Shadows as a physical being. It had said to 'trust Us', and Blackpaw had also mentioned that the Shadow Creature used words that revered to itself as being many individuals in one body.

"Wait, come back." the rogue mumbled as the smoke vanished slowly, reaching out a hand tiredly. He had so many questions to ask, things he wanted to find out about the Shadow Creature, to ask it how he could better learn to use the Shadows it was made of.

His student mumbled and stirred at his movement, waking up with a yawn.

"Master? Who are you talking to?"

Liki lowered his hand to rest on Blackpaw's arm, watching the last trails of purple smoke float away on the wind, "I thought I saw the Shadow Creature...but it didn't stick around. All it did told me was that it was time to get up."

"You're concious has good timing." Kaz whispered from aside him and began to move as well, releasing Liki's body from his muscled arms and strecthing under the blankets with a satisfied moan, "It's late, we slept all day it seems..."

"It's not a concious," Liki commented and slowly sat up in the bed, rubbing his neck to loosen it up and Blackpaw took the time to stare at Kaz, wondering when the druid had joined them, "The Shadow Creature is real. Shadows are alive, it's not just an element of magic, it can think for itself and choose for itself. The Shadow Creature explains a lot about the Shadows themself...I just wish it would stick around so I can talk to it awhile."

Kaz was right though, the light outside the tent was dim and faint from the few lanturns that were lit, no doubt everyone in the camp was probably resting after a day such as today. Liki whinced when his hand rubbed upon a tight muscle at his shoulder, and he felt another hand rest on his own before softly pushing it away and replace it. Kaz murred lightly, his hand glowing green and relaxing Liki's muscles.

The gray Fangren sighed and relaxed in the soothing embrace of druidic magic, his aching muscles suddenly feeling rejuvenated on his neck. The rest of his body however, remained sore and tight.

"Blackpaw. Never let me sleep in my armor again, I don't care about no rules or even if we do something before sleeping, just never let me sleep it in again," Blackpaw giggled while Liki whimpered when he moved and felt his leg muscles bunch up in protest. "Damn, why would the Shadow Creature wake me up when my body is still too tired to do anything?"

Kaz was suddenly sitting on the bed in front of him, still quite naked, and Liki's eyes widened when the black wolf placed his green glowing hands on Liki's face, "Becuase it knows I'm here." He smiled, and Liki blinked as he felt his face relax in Kaz's healing magic. Unfortunately, having the naked Fangren touching him like this was making other parts of him even more uncomfortable.

"You can energize me right?" Liki realized, trying to control his accelerating heart and quivering stomach while focusing on stopping the rush of blood he felt filling his groin while Kaz's gentle hands caressed his head. His tail however, wagged fast, giving away his excitement easily to both the other two Fangrens in the bed.

Kaz nodded, "I can, but..." He paused, releasing Liki's face when his hands stopped glowing their bright green.

"But...?" Liki prompted him, his tail seizing its waving and he began to force his excitement down.

"I have to touch you." Kaz finished.

Liki's efforts to contain himself went out the window at the implication of those words, and his member filled with blood before he could regain any amount of self-control. He whined while Kaz eased him back so he was laying on the bed. His cock tented his armor clearly and obviously while Kaz huddled over his body on his knees with a smile.

"I have to be able to touch your skin for my magic to heal you, I can't do so through your armor."

"You have to take my armor off?" Liki whimpered again, "I don't...I don't wear anything under it..."

Kaz nodded, "I know." His grin widened.

Liki whimpered again, and Kaz leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Remember? I said, 'Maybe after a nap'?"

The gray Fangren shivered, his head turning over to Blackpaw. The child was sitting up in the bed, watching Kaz tease his Master with an amused grin.

"What about...Blackpaw?" Liki asked, staring at his student.

"He can join in too," Kaz whispered, "After all, he knows what's going on." The black wolf looked over at Blackpaw, "Right Blackpaw? You want to help make Liki feel better?" Kaz's voice dripped with hints that this 'making Liki feel better' would involve a lot more than just healing him. A lot more.

Blackpaw nodded eagerly, his grin tranforming to that same knowing sneer Kaz had. Liki whined, his cock up agianst his armor and making a wet stain as it leaked its sticky juices in excitement. Kaz was taking control of the situation, and he had little choice but to let him and Blackpaw do what they wanted. The situation however, was still very enjoyable. He wanted it.

He moaned as Kaz's hands touched his face again, this time with a very distinct feel of teasing and excitement running through the black wolf's own body and transfering into Liki's own. Liki looked down the druid's toned, naked body to find his sheath swelling. No wait, that wasn't just his sheath. Kaz's cock was actually half hard and already it was about four inches, poking out and slowly getting bigger. The reason he had not seen it before was becuase it was black in color and had blended in with his fur, but the blood rusing into it in red viens made it clearer to see.

"Kaz..." Liki whispered, watching the black rod grow and grow as Kaz caressed his face until the Fangren's knot finally emerged, leaving six inches of cock and one and a half as that knot. "You're...huge...and black..."

Kaz chuckled and his hands pulled on Liki's leather jacket around his neck, pulling it and his cowl away from his body and leaving his chest and stomach bare.

"I have good genes." Kaz grinned and rubbed his now glowing hands on Liki's body, easing the still tense muscles there and teasing every inch of the rogue's body. Blackpaw was already naked, his small childish cock hanging out in full already and throbbing in excitement while he sat facing both the older boy's. Liki whimpered and closed his eyes, panting hard.

"Do all Ferals grow up to be huge?" He asked curiously between breaths.

"Pretty much," Kaz's hand's rubbed down Liki's arm's at the same time, "The bigger the male, the stronger he's considered to be. Even if he's fat, if his sex his huge, he gets attention from females. There's not much a chance of a Feral not being big."

Liki grinned, "Lucky wolves." He commented.

Kaz chuckled again, sitting back in between the gray wolf's legs and gripping hold of his leather pants and belt, "Time to show me yours." He murred.

Liki smiled and took hold of his pant's, pulling the last bit of armor that was restricting him off and freeing his straining penis, shivering as the air hit the sensitive, reddish colored flesh. The clear, sticky liquid of precum covered his tip, slowly slipping down to his knot as more drippled out. Kaz stared at it with clear glee, licking his lips with a long pink tongue, while his member dripped precum onto the bed.

"Does the black wolf like what he sees?" Liki laughed and Kaz mumbled something in embaressment.

The druid looked up to Liki, "I've never done anything like this before, it's my first time pretty much."

Liki shrugged, "Just do what comes to you."

"Well first," Kaz said and raised his hands again, pressing them on Liki's body as they started glowing green, "Let's heal the rest of your aches before me and Blackpaw move you around."

Liki remembered that he had pretty much placed himself in the submissive role, and while he was very much wanting this - wanting something after being teased so much anyway - he whined in anticipation while Kaz touched his legs and groin, easing the tension in his muscles. The black Fangren's hands stayed on Liki's member afterward, wrapping their fingers around it and giving a few squeezes.

Liki moaned and tilted his head back, beginning to pant hard again. Kaz continued to tease him with his squeezes, each one causing an amount of pre to dripple out his shaft and leak down over the paws holding it.

He whimpered loudly and groaned, "Kaz..."

The druid smiled and laughed lightly, "I take it I'm at a good start."

"You're a teaser." Liki stated and looked down at him a moment, "Darn you. It might be your first time but I bet you already know what you want to do."

"I do." Kaz said and released Liki's throbbing member, and Liki blinked when Kaz got up and stood beside the bed.

Kaz took Liki's hand, pulling him up to a standing position. The gray Fangren allowed himself to be pulled across the tent over to the desk, and Kaz turned him so that they were facing each other while Liki's back was to the desk.

The druid leaned in and began to give Liki a heated kiss, and Liki moaned and returned the excitment with his tongue, playing with Kaz's in his muzzle. The black wolf placed his paw on his chest and pushed Liki over onto the desk, breaking the kiss once he was laying on the wood.

He blinked while Kaz lifted up his legs high into the air and stood inbetween them so they rested on his shoulders, and suddenly understood where this was going quickly. The desk's hieght brought his rear at just the perfect level of Kaz's waistline. He whimpered while watching Kaz place himself so that black member was touching his tailhole, the wet feel of the precum that covered it making him shiver.

"Kaz, I..." Liki started but was silenced when his student jumped up onto the desk quickly.

The black wolf chuckled, "Haha, Blackpaw knows what he wants." he said amused and stepped back while Blackpaw placed his body on his Master's chest and blocked his view of Kaz, his small member resting on Liki's adolescent pecs and throbbing along with his heart beat, which like Liki's was apparently racing.

Blackpaw murred while picking up Liki's head with one of his hands and got on his knees, giving Liki a view of his legs and Kaz's tight stomach between them while the boy scooted foward until his childish cock was touching his teacher's nose.

Liki gave in to the hormones all at once, and he started licking the tip of Blackpaw's member. His student moaned and the sound of his panting filled Liki's ears while the hand holding his head pushed him closer to the cock and forced him to take it in his mouth. Blackpaw's moans grew while Liki closed his eyes, letting his student's hand push his head foward and back while he tasted the flesh on his tongue. His tail started wagging furiously, and Kaz took that as his cue to start, pushing the appendage down to make room for himself.

He held onto Liki's legs and pushed his large, black cock against the wolf's ass. The gray Fangren whimpered with Blackpaw's cock in his mouth, but his student wasn't allowing him any chance to get away, pushing his big brother's head farther onto his penis with slow movements before pulling away and burying it into his muzzle again and again. Liki whined loudly as Kaz still tried to press himself in, but he wasn't able to relax enough to allow Kaz entrance. This was a first time for him too. He was still virgin, his Master had never tried to take him becuase that would have hurt him due to the sheer size difference, not that Kaz's size was something to scoff at to begin with either. His body was responding much like Blackpaw's had, not wanting to let something inside him through that way.

Kaz seemed to understand that too it seemed. The black Fangren wrapped his arms around Liki's legs to hold him steady and his hands reached down onto his stomach, glowing green.

Liki groaned when he felt the magic soothe his tension, and his ass relaxed quickly. Kaz thurst himself in soon after, and a piercing pain shot through Liki's body. He howled in agony and Blackpaw stopped his thrusting as Liki whimpered, but Kaz's healing magic took hold quickly and stopped the ache, becoming relpaced by the pleasure of having Kaz's warm flesh inside him. He quivered once, shifting his body a bit and gripping onto the edge of the desk with his hands before nodding with the tip of his student's cock still hanging in his muzzle.

Blackpaw felt the confirming movement and began to thrust again, faster now and with a few groans as his knot twitched. Kaz followed after him and thrust himself all the way into Liki's body up to his knot and started thrusting in and out quickly and without any restriction, his magic stopping any pain Liki might feel before he even felt it and leaving only pleasure for him to enjoy. Liki felt eletric waves of joy shoot through him when the half-Feral's large cock hit his prostate, his own jumping up and spraying precum on his stomach. He began to moan in his throat as Kaz took his virginity with quick thrusts, watching Blackpaw's knot twitching and starting to swell in front of his face while the boy tried to get his penis down his Master's mouth as far as possible.

Blackpaw and Kaz's panting, along with the wet sounds of sucking and thrusting were the only things Liki could hear. He was at the mercy of these two Beasts, having let them put him in probably the most vunerable situation he had ever been in and taking his virgin status, there was nothing he could do now.

He loved it.

Kaz's thrusting increased in pace, his knot pounding Liki and occasionally hitting the gray wolf's balls that hanged above his hole as it swelled. That pain too, was eased by Kaz's continueing magic, leaving only the pleasure of touch each time his balls were slapped and his prostate was assualted by the hot rod inside him and bringing him closer and closer to the edge. Liki moaned again, feeling his knot twitch and start to swell with each thrust Kaz took, and the familair tingling feeling of climax beginning to form inside his groin.

His two partners seemed to feel that as well, as Blackpaw and Kaz both gave whimpers of need and desire, their paces increasing to an even faster speed. They both began to give random, quick, and short thrusts along with long ones while Liki watched Blackpaw's knot continue to swell up and he could feel Kaz's growing to a huge proportion while it hit his body and his only thought was wondering if he could manage to take the black Fangren's knot at all.

The feeling of his approaching climax grew with each long thrust Kaz gave along his prostate. His stomach was matted with his own precum and he whimpered in desire again, then moaned when his knot swelled to it's final size and the feeling of ejacuation began to pool up at the tip of his cock already. Each time Kaz thrust into him brought it closer and closer despite his effort to hold off.

At that same time, Blackpaw groaned as well, his climax building up. He grasped Liki's head and started thrusting madly into his Master's muzzle, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted. Liki tried to hold off his own climax by focusing on pressing his tongue agianst Blackpaw's penis. His student whimpered in desperation for a final few thrusts before burying himself, knot and all, into Liki's maw with force and howled, his cock jumping as he let loose with his climax.

Liki closed his eyes while his little brother's flesh jumped inside his muzzle, his attention returned to Kaz, who stepped closer, lifting his legs a bit higher, and hilted him. The black wolf's knot was at his biggest, each quick and short stab he made into Liki pushing him and his forcefully denied climax over the edge quickly.

A howl rose in Liki's chest in his final hold off, his knot throbbing and he could feel his semen shooting up from his testicles and pooling inside his member, aching to be released. He howled and clenched his body, his cock shooting forth its white, gooey mess in a large burst along his stomach and chest and continuing to do so while Kaz reared his head at his own final moments, a deep, wild growl rumbling from within him as the Feral instincts inside him took over. He was preparing to tie into Liki.

Liki remembered, Gaia, the knot! The knot please! He couldn't speak with Blackpaw still leaving his cock in his muzzle and basking in afterglow, but he whimpered in his throat as loud he could to get the point across.

Kaz's hands glowed the brightest green yet and the black wolf howled and gave a final stab, forcing his huge knot into Liki's body with a loud sloppy 'pop'. A brief amont of pain managed to penetrate through the druid's magic, but that was easily overcome with pleasure as Kaz shot his own semen into Liki's body, still thrusting even while his knot swelled to yet another size during his climax and he growled in a dominent tone.

The gray Fangren closed his eyes and relaxed, letting Blackpaw hold up his head as he revealed in feeling Kaz's flesh jump inside him and spray that warm liquid on his insides until it stopped and began to throb lightly to the beat of Kaz's heart. He sighed, pleased, and propped himself up with his elbows. Blackpaw drew back from him so that he could breath and pant loudly.

His student moved away, slowly standing back onto his feet by the desk - his legs shaking in afterglow and exhaustion - and Liki could see Kaz in between his legs, panting heavily and looking down at him with glittering red eyes in the faint light of night. The Fangren had a very pleased looked on his face and he looked at Liki as if he had just claimed him as a mate. It was probably the Feral in Kaz afterall.

Liki was really surprised actually, he realized now that he was coming down from his high. Kaz had came off to him as someone who would never do something like this and preferred to be left alone. When he had saved Blackpaw, he had not stuck around long enough for Liki to find out anything about him and at the battle, he showed no other emotion but a collected calmness and focus sharper than a blade. He had taken it upon himself to make sure Liki felt no serious pain throughout their little orgy. Even when Kaz had been taken by the desire to tie, he made sure Liki felt no pain by increasing his output of magic first.

Here, he could see something more, and his own magic could feel how Kaz felt at that moment of clarity as he was distracted by his esctasy and his mind was wide open. Behind Kaz's tough, outer shell as a half-Feral and his mask of calmness, there was emotion and desire and someone caring. Someone like himself. On the inside, Kaz desired to belong to something.

He smiled up to the black Fangren, and he said between pants, "Hey Kaz...why don't you come with me and Blackpaw? You can be a part of our family."

Kaz's mind became closed off behind a thick wall of protection as soon as Liki said those words and his red eyes retook their sharp focus. The druid looked away, "You wouldn't want me..."

"Why not?" Liki turned his head to Blackpaw.

Blackpaw's cock was already beginning to recede inside him. He stood beside Kaz and took his hand in his own, "Yeah Kaz. You're nice."

Kaz huffed, pulling his hand away, "No I'm not..."

"Yes, you are." Liki said sternly. At that moment he felt Kaz's knot start to shrink a bit. He grunted and pulled himself off the desk and Kaz, then stood up in front of the black wolf. He felt no pain, Kaz had already given him enough druidic magic to numb his entire insides to anything but pleasure.

"You know what just happened, don't you?" Liki whispered and Kaz looked at the ground, "You opened up to me, you opened your heart and I could feel it..."

"I..." Kaz whimpered, "It was a mistake..."

"A mistake?" Liki whimpered as well.

"Y-yeah..." Kaz stammered, "A mistake..."

"Kaz I know what I felt." Liki took a hold of the Fangren's arms before he could try to get away, "You can't say it was a mistake becuase you wanted it. You desire something to belong to, and I want to give that to you."

"N-no!" Kaz whined, "I can't! It...it isn't right!" He tore away from Liki's hands and picked up his lioncloth from the ground nearby, hiding his privates as if hoping the minor cloth actually did keep it out of view completely. He then snatched up his leafy vines and dashed out of the tent flaps before Liki could react.

"Kaz!" Liki called after him, but he could only hear the druid running away in the night.

He sighed staring down at his own penis entering his sheath, and Blackpaw whimpered.

"Blackpaw, let's go back to sleep..." Liki whispered. He wiped the cum off his chest and quided his student over to the bed. Blackpaw said nothing but he laid down with his Master and cuddled agianst him. Blackpaw was both upset that Kaz had ran away, but he was happy to be with Liki still, so he stayed quiet as he slowly fell back to sleep.

Liki however, worried for Kaz. He had felt the tormoil and desire in Kaz's head at the instant it had been open to him. Something in Kaz's past was barring him from accepting those around him, but the desperation to have someone there to hold him and love him was eating him inside out.

Another thing that he remembered was the voice that had woke him up in the first place. Why had it done that? All waking up gave Liki was a bit of a thrill and then made him feel bad that he scared off Kaz on accident. Unless...he had been meant to get that glimpse into Kaz's mind. The Shadows wanted Liki to help the black Fangren it seemed.

He sighed and closed his eyes, "I'll get you to accept it Kaz. I'll help you through whatever is holding you back."

In the early morning, Liki and Blackpaw dressed themselves and reported to Cyro. The blue fox was busy enchanting weapons with his Ice Type magic, and told them to report to Steel instead.

While walking through the camp, Liki found Kaz attending to the weak or still wounded from the battle yesturday. Head counts had been taken and it appeared that nearly one third of the resistence had been killed. No wounded died though, in part mostly to Kaz's dedication to taking care of them, so that was a blessing in Liki's opinion.

Kaz avoided him and Blackpaw however, and Liki did not try to trap the druid and force him to talk with him. Yet.

He hurried to find Steel, eager to do something to get things off his mind, and finding him near the middle of camp, looking over a scroll that showed the layout of Earthend and depating possible strageties with PyreFox and Cammy in a much more peaceful and responding way then when Liki had first seen him.

The white Foxen looked up, "Liki, are you feeling better?" PyreFox and Cammy noticed the Fangren as well then.

Liki nodded and held onto Blackpaw's hand a bit tighter, "Yeah."

"You up for something to do too?" Steel continued.

"Yes."

"Good. We need someone to go search the nearby woods for a certain herb. Our soldiers feel weak and our only druid isn't enough to get them back on their feet."

"Kaz is the only druid here?" Blackpaw gasped from beside Liki.

Steel nodded, sighing, "And he's a damn good fellow for doing all this stuff for us too. I can only imagine how tired he is and how hard this is for a once Feral like himself. There's a lot of things that trouble him. I can tell that whenever I look at how he moves with such focus. I forced him to take a break yesturday even, becuase he seemed so determined to work himself to exhaustion."

Liki nodded. That must have been when Kaz had found him in the tent. A moment of silence followed until he asked, "So what needs to be done?"

"Go with Kaz into the woods. He told us if he had this herb he could make a healing potion that would rejuvenate the soldiers from their weariness. He tried to describe it for us so we could do it ourselves, but for the hell of me I can't remember everything he says! We can't send him in alone either becuase the woods are filled with giant spiders."

A perfect chance to talk with Kaz too. Liki thought.

"All right, me and Blackpaw will help Kaz find the herb and be back as soon as possible."

"I'll hold you to it Liki." Steel said and returned his attention to his scroll with PyreFox and Cammy.

Liki left with Blackpaw, kneeling to let the boy in his backpack before returning to Kaz's medical area. Here, there were rows of beds that held the weak and wounded, bundled in many blankets to protect from chill at night since they were all out in the open. Kaz was the only Beast standing among them, checking over each patient with a calm focus.

Liki watched a moment on the edge of the area as Kaz moved from Beast to Beast at a quick pace, his hands glowing green while he checked for normal vitals.

The druid spun around once, seeing Liki and Blackpaw on the edge of the clearing, and turned away again without any reaction.

Blackpaw sighed in Liki's backpack, "How are you going to help him find the herb when he's intentionally avoiding us?"

Liki began to step into the medical zone, "By trapping him." Liki commented and waved his hand around in from of him. His left hand glowed with Shadows and his Flame Mark glowed bright orange but did not burn as he called upon the Elemental to help him. He wanted Kaz to accept what the druid himself wanted and become a part of his family, and as his promise dectated it, the Elemental would help.

A long line of Shadow Flame waved through the air and quickly surrounded Kaz, who jumped and balked in surprise and whipped around to Liki, his red eyes flashing in anger.

"What the heck are you doing?!" He barked.

"Forcing you to talk to me." Liki answered and waved his hand again, the spell dissapating into the air.

Kaz deflated and looked at the ground, "There's nothing to talk about. What happened was not what I wanted..."

"That's crap and you know it." Liki stated and Kaz whinced.

"Why are you so afraid to accept your desire?"

Kaz whimpered, and he turned around but did not walk away, "I'm half-Feral...I was once one..."

"So?"

"Ferals...Ferals don't support gay relations..."

Liki blinked, and Kaz continued, "Ferals are, as I've discovered, only a half-step above real animals in intelligence. As such, they fail to feel...love..."

Kaz turned to face Liki again, staring at his blue eyes, "Gaia's vision to me sent me on my journey and I had to learn more about modern culture to better fit into it. At first, the concept of love struck me as something funny and useless. What other purpose could a female serve me than to be a mate and bear my children? That was what I had been taught by my Feral Tribe through the examples I witnessed..."

The Fangren placed a hand over his chest, "Yet...the more I learned...the more time I spent away from my Feral linage on my journey, the more I realized there was something more to love. I missed my family...becuase I love them, not becuase of how they were my Tribe or my blood, but becuase I cared for them." Kaz's hand clencthed his chest through his leafy vines.

"I went back to my Tribe after I realized that thinking that was what Gaia had wanted me to discover and teach my people...and..." He shuddered and whimpered, "They kicked me out..."

"What?!" Liki gaped and he stepped foward, "Why?"

"Because I wasn't a true Feral anymore!" Kaz shouted and tears began pouring from his eyes, "I had indulged in WInd Type magic! Magic is forbidden to Ferals!" The wolf looked at the ground, "Not only that, I was smarter than even my elder's. They called me, 'tainted blood' and no one would touch me. Despite the effort I put into the Tribe, even though I saved our greatest hunters from death after they were gravely wounded, I got nothing but more ridicule. NOTHING!" Kaz waved his arm around him in frustration.

"I realized that my own knowledge had pushed me away from my family...they didn't understand how I felt, they couldn't comprehend it becuase they were too stupid to...I knew then, that Ferals were wrong...Gaia wants Beasts to learn, she wants them to use magic and feel love as a living thing should. Ferals know nothing of love. They know only survival of the fittest."

Kaz sighed and sat down on an empty bed nearby, and Liki quickly followed suit, staring at the ground and thinking.

After a moment he had a thought, "So...let's take an example. From what you're saying, when Ferals take mates, they stay that way for life right?"

"Until one of them dies and the other starts looking for another, yes. They don't even mourn them." Kaz growled.

"When a Beast takes a mate, they stay that way for life right?" Liki continued.

"Except a Beast will stay true to their mate even through death and never abandon them for someone 'better'. They love for the sake of love and nothing else." Kaz whispered.

"Well, it sounds like you've choosen the better side then. So what exactly is wrong?"

Kaz closed his eyes and whined, muttering something under his breath before saying, "I...I can't let go..."

Liki nodded. Now they were getting to the main source of the problem. "You still feel a certain connection to your Feral roots."

Kaz nodded as well, "It's why I wear these." He tugged at his leafy vine coverings, "Beasts wear clothing...and Ferals wear only thier fur. I took a spot in between the two." The black wolf whimpered and held his hands together.

"I just...I just wish I could belong to something that would accept me...something that would appreciate what I do and love me for it."

"You have that right here," Liki said and Kaz looked at him, his expression demanding an explanation and Liki smiled, "Steel told me earlier, he greatly appreciates what you're doing here and he can tell that there's lots of things troubling you on the inside and he accepts you as being half-Feral. No doubt, all these Beasts here appreciate you as well, and they get to see a side of you not many get; the caring, protective side you try to hide behind a mask of forced calmness and focus."

The soldiers on the beds nearby mumbled things in agreement, some managing to raise a hand and give thumbs up to Liki's words.

Kaz blinked, his eyes falling to Liki again, "But...would they love me for it...?"

Silence followed and a few of the soldiers pretended to cough in pain to avoid having to answer that, and Liki could only grin. He reached forward and rubbed his hand on Kaz's muzzle.

"Kaz, you're kind, caring, and through your story you show so much of how you feel..." Liki wiggled on the bed to face him, "You saved Blackpaw, you stayed calm when I was already frantic and saved him where I couldn't. You saved me in the battle yesturday by helping me keep my own cool through your stead-fast focus. I love Blackpaw, he's my little brother now, and you're right, we have done things that brothers shouldn't be involved in together. Things that both Ferals and Beasts would look at with disgust if they didn't understand."

Liki smiled, "You saw that through your magic, and you awknowledged it calmly and said you accept it. I believe you when you say that, becuase what followed afterward told me you wanted to feel it too. That you desperately wanted it."

Kaz looked away, embarressed, and Liki finished up, "I saw the look you were giving me, the way your eyes sparkled in happiness and I felt your mind open up to me. You...you desire me...you want me..."

Kaz whimpered, shuffling and beginning to twitch. He was about to get up and run away when Liki grabbed his hands and forced him to stare into his eyes.

"Kaz..." Liki whispered, leaning in slowly.

Kaz whimpered again, but he couldn't pull away. He wanted this, he wanted it so badly. The moment he had seen Liki on the hill with Blackpaw, he had desired Liki, desired to have the Fangren in a loving embrace. He had taken advantage of Liki and Blackpaw's relationship, just to get a taste of what he wanted when he had sex with him and pretending it was just a fun fling. This however...he never imagined it was possible at all due to his instinctive adversion as a Feral. On the inside though, he wanted to break away from his Feral bonds and be who he truly was.

He closed his eyes as Liki's lips met his and they shared a passionate kiss and Liki held him close. The black Fangren continued to whimper in his throat as he tentively brought his hands foward to touch the other's face. Both of them were kissing slowly and lightly, neither wanting to scare the other away.

They broke the kiss eventually and stared at each other's eyes. Kaz's had retaken the sparkle that Liki had seen the night before, and his mind had opened back up to him.

"There..." Liki whispered, caressing Kaz's cheek with his hand, "That's the true you...without all the worry, all the stress. This is the you who is hidden under all that emotion."

Kaz smiled, "Liki...thank you." He murred and wagged his tail, "Thank you so much..."

"Kaz...?" Liki started, "My offer still stands."

The black Fangren gulped, "To-to join your family? Liki I-"

"Think about it Kaz..." Liki whispered and Kaz blinked, and a moment of silence followed until Liki got up, looking down at Kaz, "We were sent here to help you find a herb in the forest?" His voice suddenly taking a more attentive tone.

Kaz continued to blink a moment until his mind returned enough to gain his bearings again, and he nodded, "That's right. If I can get that herb I can fix up most of the army to its best."

Liki held out his hand, "Then let's go find it."

Kaz stared at the hand a moment, before he took it and smiled.

The woods of Hillsbrad were very dark, creepy, and quite noisy really. The sound of birds singing was everywere despite how spooky it felt.

Kaz followed behind Liki and Blackpaw, trying his hardest to focus on the task at hand, but his attention would always end up on Liki's long, waving tail instead.

He's...just...Gaia I love him...

Kaz whimpered. He was happy to know that Liki had accepted him, appreciated what he was and what he was trying, and loved him for it enough to let him join his family. It was almost everything he wanted. Almost.

He wanted Liki...as a mate...

"Kaz?" Liki's voice snapped the black wolf back to reality, and he looked back up from Liki's tail to see him staring back at him, "What does this herb look like?"

"Oh um, it has purple leaves with red stripes running down the middle of them. It's about the size of a tree stick."

"So something like this here?" Liki asked and stepped aside, a small fern on the ground in front of him with purple leaves and red striping it.

"Yeah! That's it." Kaz said and picked the fern out of the ground, taking the roots with it.

"Great." Liki said, "Wasn't very hard to find at all."

Yeah... Kaz realized, Not one bit... The herb was a rarity on Hillsbrad, and Kaz was very surprised to find it so easily.

Maybe. He looked back at Liki while standing back up, Maybe it's having him with me that makes it easier...

...

Naw, it's just luck. I just wish it was him.

"Well we have what I need." He said and began walking back down the way they had came, "Should we head on back?"

"If there's nothing else we need." Liki answered and followed up behind the druid.

Kaz started to focus more on Liki again as they made their way out of the forest, thinking of the night before. He believed that to Liki, what had happened was more of a fun little escapade of sex, but to Kaz it had been so much more.

In his head, he had claimed Liki as his mate, tieing to him and filling him with his seed. That was how the Feral in him saw it, and in this example he wanted to agree with it and embrace that conclussion. Liki however, didn't quite know that...becuase he had hesitated earlier in saying it to the rogue. Another fact that stopped him was that Liki had tied with Blackpaw first as well. In Kaz's mind, that meant Blackpaw was Liki's mate, and he was trying to interfere and take him away and that wasn't right for him to be doing. He knew that wasn't really true, but the feeling was still there. It was what had made him run away, what had made him lock away his desire and avoid it until Liki forced him to talk back in the medical camp.

What if Blackpaw really did want Liki to be his own mate sometime? They said they were just brothers in their family. Did that mean the mate 'spot' was open for him to take?

"Kaz! Watch out!"

Kaz was snapped away from his thoughts again, turning his head just in time to register the large, humongous spider charging at him. He did not have time though to move, and the monster bowled him over. Kaz yelped as the spider's fangs pentrated the ground right beside his head, just barely missing his ear.

He was stunned, and the spider raised its fangs to strike again. Kaz shut his eyes tightly, but heard Liki's yowl and the spider sreech angerly when the rogue body slammed the massive arachnid.

Kaz opened his eyes, watching in fear while the spider turned and struck out at Liki with one of its long legs and kicking him into the air. Liki and Blackpaw yowled, the older wolf turning in the air so that he landed on his chest. Blackpaw tumbled out of the backpack, rolling along the ground and coming to a rest on his side, dazed.

The spider scittered over above Liki instead, its fangs dripping in poison and hanging over the Fangren while he turned to stare up at the spider's multiple eyes.

Kaz's heart skipped a beat, and he realized this might be the last time he saw Liki alive.

The Feral in him, however, didn't stand idly by.

Kaz felt himself rise to his feet, howling at the top of his lungs while he charged at the monster. In his head, his Feral side took over completely and he could only think of protecting his mate from harm.

As he ran, his pulled his fist back behind himself and focused his wind magic into his hand. A high-pitched whistle filled the air as his hand became covered in glowing energy. His howling rage accompined that noise as he slammed his fist into the side of the spider's body with as much force he could muster and let his magic blast from his fist.

The wind caused by his magical punch exploded, flinging the spider like it was a pillow and shaking the canopy of the trees above and blowing the grass flat around them. The spider let out a pained wail as it flew through the air, than slammed into a tree. It slid to the ground, its legs twitching, as green blood pooled around it and the tree itself fell over on top of it.

Kaz stood with his fist still in the air above Liki, panting hard and his fur on edge. He brought his arm to a rest at his side and looked at Liki.

"Are you okay?" He asked and pulled the rogue to his feet, the adrenaline fading and his eyes relaxing from their focused stare.

"I'm fine." Liki grunted and stood, brushing himself off, "That was amazing though."

Kaz's fur settled, "I wasn't going to let it hurt you."

"Thanks." Liki smiled.

They heard a groan when Blackpaw managed to sit up, a clump of grass wedged inside his mouth. Both the Fangrens laughed and the boy blew out the grass before he stood and pouted.

Liki went over and petted his student's head, "Aw, come on Blackpaw, it was funny."

"We were just attacked by a giant spider! How is that funny?"

Liki shrugged, "Well it's gone now, and finding something to laugh about eases the stress."

Blackpaw pouted still and merely crawled back into his Master's backpack when he kneeled down. Liki turned back and walked past Kaz, "Let's get out of here before more might show up."

Kaz followed behind him, his thoughts going over what he had just felt. He had done that to protect his mate. Liki wasn't his mate though...at least...he wasn't sure. Liki wasn't aware of how he felt.

It wasn't until they had exited the forest and traveled along the hills until they were standing above the camp that Kaz stopped, looked at the ground and whimpered to himself.

Liki stopped as well, turning around to regard Kaz, "You okay?" He whispered.

"Liki...I have a question..." Kaz started.

"Go ahead. Anything."

Kaz took a deep breath and looked up to stare into Liki's blue eyes. They were so beutiful to him.

"Will you...be my mate?"