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FIGHT

"Would you want to live here with me?" Kivhel asked his silhouette barely visible against the dying light. The two had spent the day playing in the surf and exploring the beach, just before sunset the two had stumbled upon the ruins of an abandoned building, the alien construct was made of stone, not leather and limbs. It was square and large, large enough to fit more than half the village inside. Sarah and Kivhel both managed to fit through a small hole in the side where the stone had fallen away. The inside of the construct was roofless; with a rotting wooden platform that ran around the inside edge and agents the back wall and along each side stood three structures that baffled the cub's minds.

"There huts!" Sarah cried, "Stone Huts all sharing walls...!"

"No, they can't be..." Kivhel said incredulously

"But they are! Look! Here is the door..." Sarah began running and standing in the threshold of one of the building's doorways. "Think about the old war stories! The Fehalis! From across the sea, with all of their strange ways, and their shiny clothes, and their storm-sticks! You remember the ones that shouted thunder and shot lightning! How they took our knowledge of medicine and then tried to get us to worship one god!" she giggled at the thought, "All those stories Shiall told--"

"Shiall is a liar!" Kivhel said cutting her off, his voice nearly a shout.

"What?" Sarah asked "Why do you think that? You used to loved his stories--"

"But not the ones about you..." touching his bandaged head "when he was sewing the skin together he talked about you, he talked about something called 'politics' and then he went on to say that It was too bad you had to be... to be... Sarah he called you a witch... he-he insisted that Aladarin was right, that you were a witch or a sorceress who murdered her own family to strike a bargain the demons of the underworld and bring a curse down on the entire village."

Sarah was quiet for a moment, looking down she softly put voice the question that had been bothering her since the old man had judged her.

"Kivhel," she started "do... do you believe them, do you think I am a witch?"

"WHAT!?!" Kivhel shouted, face painted with disbelief that she would even ask such a thing "NO! No of course not, Sarah, I could never think anything like that about you." Stepping forward and taking her paws in his "I've known you my whole life, and it even feels longer than that sometimes, even if you were I wouldn't care, that's how it was with Father and Mother, he told me that that was what it was like with my mother, and that was why he chose her to be his wife. Sarah, you are the most amazing Fahuvex I know, you are kind, and gentle," dropping to his knees and looking up into her eyes "and in no way could I ever think of you as anything more than the love of my life."

Sarah was smiling, nearly in tears, he had hinted and teased for months, but never admitted he loved her, as the realization of his words sunk in they sent electric jolts down her spine and extremities, and made her heavy heart feel, if only for an instant, light as a feather before settling down and weighing significantly less.

"Sarah," Kivhel asked "Would you want to live here with me?"

She knelt down to him, stared into his eyes for an instant, and then pulled him into an embrace that would never seem long enough. It was in the instance Kivhel knew her answer was yes.

"No" she whispered

Kivhel pulled away gaping at her with eyes wide and a face plastered with disbelief, anguish, and confusion. Too flabbergasted to move as Sarah leaned forward Kivhel just sat there as she kissed him on the nose before leaning back to his ear and whispering,

"I would live anywhere, as long as I was with you"

That, made Kivhel want to jump with joy, with a toothy grin he said

"Then we'll do just that, we'll live here on the beach and eat fish, we'll take in anyone with nowhere to go, and make them part of our tribe, and have children who will take care of us and the tribe when we get to old, we'll live happy lives, away from all the hate and anger in all of Alliera..."

"And we'll be together." Sarah said softly.

It wasn't a question, but that did not stop Kivhel from reassuring her,

"And we'll be together, always and forever... but first we need a home and food in our bellies! I'll go catch some fish; you get a fire started and start collecting some grass for thatch," looking in the direction of the sun "we'll probably have to sleep under the stars tonight, but I don't think It'll rain."

Kivhel grabbed the spear from where he had left it and began to run out to the surf before digging his heal into the ground and whirling around to Sarah, running back to her he threw the spear down to the side and grabbed her around the midsection and lifted her into the air spinning around and shouting

"Sarah! We've done it! WE'VE ACTUALLY DONE IT! WE'RE SAFE!!!"

Bringing her back to the ground he kissed her like he did they made their escape. Tongues intertwined and eyes shut the pair stood there; locked in each other's embrace for what could have been an eternity, neither one cared.

It was when Sarah's stomach let out a particularly large growl did Kivhel break the kiss, but not the embrace that lasted several seconds longer, ending only when Kivhel whispered softly "I'll be back before sunset"

And with that he broke away, picked up his spear, and jogged away, towards the surf and then east, back towards the river the two had followed out of the forest.

Sarah sighed, watching him go she felt like a little piece of her was leaving too. For the nest three hours she spent her time collecting wood and grass for the fire.

An hour had passed, Sarah had collected all the bits of drift-wood that had washed up on the beach, and was beginning to venture inland into the low dunes, and then farther into the grass humming to herself, fantasizing about what the future would hold. Stopping for a moment to collect half an Elder-Nut she realized that the chirring of the insects living in the tall grass had fallen silent. With only the sound of the waves at her back Sarah suddenly became aware of how alone she was. Standing upright Sarah looked towards the tall grass; from beyond the wall of grass she felt eyes watching her. The hair on the nape of her neck began to rise as she slowly backed away feeling very unsecure.

Back in the enclosed safety of the abandoned huts Sarah's experienced hands were able to build and start a fire in a matter of minutes, still paranoid Sarah grabbed the Elder-Nut shell and hurriedly made her way in the direction Kivhel had run, intent on collecting water for soup.

The portion of the stream Kivhel has chosen to fish in was truly bountiful. The water was deep and clear, on the opposing side were the hills that eventually gave way to the woodlands that marked the eastern edge of Fahuvex territory. The stream had carved a cliff out of the side of a hill, and over it tumbled a small waterfall, which gradually deepened this portion of the stream every year. Kivhel was soon to discover that every time he dove into the water he was able to surface with at least one fish. Still jubilant from Sarah and his successful escape Kivhel was full of energy he went to scale the cliff. To climb the cliff, as small as it was hardly a feat by anyone's standards but through the eyes of youth, the great challenge was a great accomplishment when conquered in a matter of minutes. From the apex of the hill looking out Kivhel could see into the tall grass that bordered the dunes, prairie-pigs had worn a maze into the grass. Kivhel licked his muzzle, the thought of bacon and pork loins as a possible future meal made him smile, content with the decision made to stay, it was near paradise.

Kivhel's gaze drifted back south-west, he knew he could live the life he had described, alone with no one other than Sarah, but he wondered if she could. She wasn't like him, she was far more social, she lived to help everyone, and he, he had lived for Sarah.

He sat, feet dangling over the edge for a while, just enjoying the day. His stomach grumbled and he was suddenly reminded of why he came. Standing up Kivhel stretched for a second before taking a step back and leaping off the small cliff. Airborne for an instant, submerged the next Kivhel kicked his strong legs and was ashore within seconds, removing his leather loincloth and setting it out to dry Kivhel grabbed his spear and dove in.

Emerging several seconds later with a fish on the far end of his spear Kivhel grinned wildly in triumph only to stop and whirl about to the sound of giggling. On the bank behind him stood an Otara, a girl, about his age, perhaps a bit older.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked Kivhel could do nothing but shake his head dumbly. He had never see an Otara before, her fur was a dark almond color, and sleeker than any Fahuvex, her tail seemed to be the same thickness at first but the more he looked he noticed that their tails were almost exact opposites, his tail-fur was long, while the organ it's self was thin. Hers was thick and muscular, with sort tail-fur.

The most exotic feature of the sailing race would have to be their faces, with relatively small heads and short muzzle, as well as small round ears that swiveled this way and that all together gave the girl a completely alien face. Kivhel was so distracted by the strange and sudden appearance of this Otara girl that he had failed to realize that she, like him moments before, was removing her clothing in order to swim naked. Blushing profusely Kivhel worked the fish from his spearhead and tossed the morsel onto the bank. When he turned around the Otara was right there, swimming next to him. Kivhel had to force himself to look at her face, up close he could tell she was older, defiantly older.

"I'm Kirima" she said smiling "What's your name cutie?" she asked, swimming around him trailing her hands through his fur around his midsection.

"K-Kivhel" he stammered back, mind fully comprehending the statement 'frisky as an Otara'

"And what is lonely little Kivhel doing out here" she whispered into his ear, her hands drifting lower and lower...

Swimming backwards Kivhel stammered "I'm ah... I'm fishing."

"Fishing huh? Wishing for what?" Kirima

"Me and my mate!" he blurted, still scrambling backwards

"Your..." Kirima looked at the fox, confusion plastered across her face for the fraction of an instant before she burst out laughing "aren't you a little young to have a mate? Your barely off your mother's milk!"

"I am too old enough!" Kivhel shouted, but the Otara merely laughed before flipping backwards and diving down. Though the water was clear the angle at which Kirima dove down prevented Kivhel from tracing her for long.

"A mate would explain why you've been so... unreceptive..." came a throaty whisper over Kivhel's shoulder, he would have spun around to confront the girl if her voice hadn't accompanied hands, which wrapped around his torso and traced over the ill-defined muscles beneath his coat.

Kivhel stiffened, he could feel his heartbeat in every hair, it pounded in his chest and thundered in his ears Kivhel felt his mouth go dry and his hand cramp as he was still holding the spear in a death grip.

"Kivhel?" Sarah's voice rang into his ears like a single flame in the darkest hour of the night.

"So that's her isn't it? You must really love her... by now I have most boys squirming... ah well I should probably slip away before she sees me..." kirima sank down and darted beneath him, back to the bank where she had left her clothes. Dawning her clothes in a seductive manor she turned back to Kivhel and said "If you change your mind cutie, I don't leave for a couple of days, Otara live by the sea so we don't stay in one place for long" with that, the Otara turned to leave, hesitating only to turn again and say "you might want to hide that from your girl... or not" and with one last wink to the confused Kivhel she disappeared.

Kivhel waded in the center of the pond contemplating what the Otara had meant for him to hide he wondered until Sarah came up the trail looking distraught. Kivhel sensed something was wrong and moved forward, climbing out the water Kivhel was struck of the sudden realization of what he should be hiding. Weather it was the water rushing down around is waste as he clamored out, or the look on Sarah's face moving from distraught to an embarrassed giggle. Looking down Kivhel felt as if is face were aflame, hunching over and attempting to cover himself before turning and jumping back into the small pond.

Through her laughter Sarah managed to choke out the words "I can see you're busy with your 'fishing'"

"Sarah wait is something wrong?"

"No no! But yes!" she burst out laughing again "I'm fine, your fine it's just.... Unexpected... please don't mind me... just remember to bring back some food when your... done" she laughed again and turned back around laughing all the way back to the coast, ignoring Kivhel's repeated cries that he "was not doing... that"

When Kivhel returned just before twilight with twenty some fish, each at least as long as Sarah's forearm he was braced for the worst slew of innuendos and double entendres... however, Sarah only smiled, and began to gut and clean the fish as she added them to the stew.

"The water skins are empty, will you go fill them? The stew should be done by the time you get back the stew will be ready."

Kivhel smiled, leaving his spear impaled in the sand he only said "yes love" scooped up the water skins and set off in the direction of the stream.

Just before he was out of earshot he heard Sarah shout "And no fishing!"

Kivhel could do nothing but groan and flash the thumbs up sign as he jogged backwards.

Chuckling to herself, Sarah smiled as she watched him jog away for the second time that day. Contentedly she sat, stirring the soup; she tasted it, a bit bland, salty to say the least but mixed in with the greens it wasn't half bad.

"Well... well... well... what do we have here?"

Sarah gasped, scrambling backwards on all fours, standing over her, haloed by the red sun he eclipsed, stood Aladarin.

"A-Al-A Aladarin" Sarah stammered "I- You!" she gasped, ready to scream, but before she could make a sound the cool metal of Aladarins blade was pressed to her throat.

"shhhh... be quiet girl... I've been following you and my thrice damned brother for so long..." Aladarin's oily voice sent a shiver down Sarah spine; she slowly released the breath she had taken in preparation to scream. Slowly and shakily she exhaled, whispering "gods save me"

"oh it isn't the gods you should be asking to save you, it's me... but don't worry I've got to wait for Kivhel to get here, when he does I'll have quite the surprise for him... but while we wait let's see if you taste as sweet as your brothers?"

A single tear fell from Sarah's cheek as Aladarin slowly pulled his blade across the supple flesh of her throat, staining the white fur crimson...

Kivhel filled and corked the water skins, slinging them over his shoulder he began marching back towards the mission, back to camp. When he got to the camp he found it empty, looking around he assumed Sarah had left for good reason and would be back shortly, going to the soup boiling in the Elder-Nut shell he had seen Sarah holding earlier, taking a small leather bowl from the sack of supplies he had managed to collect before there hasty departure Kivhel dunked the bowl into the Elder-Nut and pulled out a reasonable helping. Bringing the bowl to his lips he would have to slurp... he hadn't thought to bring any utensils... he would carve more when he got the chance. Placing one hand on the ground he was surprised to feel it wet. Setting the bowl down Kivhel brought his hand closer to the flame, fear already blooming in his heart as the coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils. Confirmed by the color Kivhel jumped up shouting Sarah's name, hearing in response only the thunderous crashing of the waves he grabbed a branch from the fire, the evening having descended surprisingly fast.

"Sarah!?!" Kivhel shouted

Holding the branch like torch close to the ground he saw that the small dark spot he had placed his hand in was only the beginning, a trail of small droplets let away from the fire and towards the old Fehalis building...

Following the trail Kivhel hesitated only long enough to look for his spear, seeing it nowhere he resigned to using his knife, pulling it from his belt as he ran towards the ruins leaving the torch, the full moon rising would be enough light soon. Leaping through the hole in the wall he was sent reeling as he felt his leg lanced he collapsed, warm blood trickling down his thigh. With stars dancing about his peripherals he took a deep breath and focused on remaining conscious.

"Dear brother! Why you surprise me! Evading the hunters for as long as you did to only be taken down by a halfheartedly thrown spear." Aladarin clucked as he crossed his arms, staring down at Kivhel who was crouched, hand pressed firmly agents a wide gash in his thigh.

"If I had known all I had to do was throw a spear into the bushes we could have avoided so much effort..."

"Where's Sarah?" Kivhel demanded, teeth gritted in anger and pain.

"The witch-whore? She's around, but honestly don't you have bigger things to worry about? Like how you're going survive the next hour... or three" Aladarin grinned, eyes alight with a flame he had never seen in his brother before, but one he suspected had blazed as he had slit the throat of the tracker. "You seem shocked? Yes I like them to die a slow death, bleeding and in pain..." lifting his blade so that it shone in the moonlight he examined the blood along the edge before giving it a long satisfactory lick. "ooh that is good... innocent as her brothers, but different somehow... yes I am responsible for the killings... all of them, your little girlfriend is just a convenient scapegoat... you and she will die, along with father, he will be more subtle of course, I cannot murder my way to chief hood no I'll kill him with poison..."

Kivhel was shivering, weather from blood loss or sheer rage he could no longer tell, he stood up, wincing as he did so but standing his ground none the less before Aladarin, his brother, as he descended the remnants of some stone steps, blade and fangs caching the moonlight Kivhel prepared himself as Aladarin said "try not to scream Kivhel, just whimper silently like the pup you are..." and with that he strode forward stabbing and slicing.

Kivhel did his best to dodge but Kivhel was too fast and too large, more than once his blows landed and the cold shock of the knife slicing through his skin was felt. Rolling to the side Kivhel looked to see his brother turn back to him, hunched over, hackles raised, fangs bared and white foam dripping from his mouth. Kivhel tried to stand but collapsed under his own weight. Dragging himself away as fast as he could Kivhel abandoned his knife in favor of being able to pull himself along the sandy ground faster. Turning back he saw that Aladarin was nearly atop him, hands flailing Kivhel found a hard shaft and swung it in front of him just as Aladarin leapt to bury his knife in his chest.

There was a dull "thunk" followed by a sickening sucking-slurping noise as Aladarin slid down the shaft of Kivhel's spear. As he slid closer Aladarin, coughing blood and phlegm croaked to his brother "there is blood on your hands brother... mine... see you soon..." Kivhel listened in horror as his brother began to laugh, maniacal laughter that stopped short and suddenly as Aladarin died.

With a horrified bellow Kivhel threw the corps of his brother off him. Covered in his brothers blood and gasping for breath he slowly gathered his strength Kivhel rolled onto his side and sucked in his breath, in the shadowy corner of the ruin lay the nude motionless body of Sarah.

"Sarah" Kivhel shouted weekly crawling himself over towards his fallen love.

"Sarah? Sarah, wake up!" Kivhel shouted, her neck was matted with blood and her nude body was covered in small nicks and cuts. With tears falling from his eyes Kivhel screamed to the heavens before collapsing onto Sarah, planting tender kisses upon her unresponsive lips. He remained there until exhaustion overtook him and he succumbed to the heavy velvet folds of sleep...