Oh I hope he comes home safely... Sage thought anxiously as he lay on his bed. I don't know what I would do if he died out there in that horrible place. A piece of wood crackled in his fireplace, sending little sparks up into the air above the fireplace. He looked over at the fireplace and saw that it was starting to die down, and a small sigh escaped his lips. I should probably get more firewood. He thought as he lazily got out of bed and started for the door. Stretching his arms across the room, he let out a relieved sigh as his muscled unwound. I think I'll go get another pipper for dinner tonight. He thought as he reached for the door and opened to see Jason raising his hand to knock. "Jason!" Sage squealed in delight as he jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Jason, his heart beginning to beat quickly.

"Well hello." Jason chuckled, wrapping his warm, muscular arms around Sages back. "It's good to see you too," He said as Sage tightened their embrace with all the strength he could muster.

As Sage held Jason, he felt his cheeks begin to warm. "You were gone for so long, I didn't know if you were coming back this time. I'm so glad you're safe."

"I wasn't gone all that long," Jason countered, slowly beginning to pull away from their embrace as Sage tried to hold on. "I was only out of the village for a week. That's pretty fast, even for me."

Finally letting go, Sage looked up at the love of his life happily. "It always feels longer when you aren't around. How was the trip, no crazy encounters I hope?" He asked hopefully, slowly looking Jason over as he did. His eyes slowed to a halt on the necklace Katia had given him and his smile faltered.

"Nope, nothing interrupted my search this time. Not even the gagkuts were out there. It was almost too quiet..." He paused when he noticed Sage's look of pain beginning to take form. "What's wrong Sagey, are you okay?"

"I see you're still wearing that trinket Katia gave you. Does that mean you want her?" Sage asked, trying to hide his obvious displeasure at seeing the necklace.

Looking down, he noticed the necklace and scowled. "Oh, that..." He took it off quickly and glared at it. "I guess Katia thought that it would be some kind of promise ring or something." He paused when he saw Sage's skepticism and quickly pocketed it. "But I had to put it back on when I got here. She noticed me before I could get to the elder's house, and she kept talking about how I wasn't wearing it. I wanted to get away from her and come see you, so I put it on. Then the elder..." He paused for a moment, thinking about something as Sage looked up at him.

"The elder what, she didn't give you crap about the stuff you brought her did she? The badlands aren't an easy place to find stuff, let alone working mechanical things." Sage asked, his eyes resting on Jason's pocket, his thoughts beginning to darken.

Jason let out a long sigh and kicked the ground with his foot. "No, she just told me something I didn't want to hear. I don't wanna get into it, let's just get this sleepover going. I've been thinking about it since I left!" He said with a fake enthusiasm that made Sage look up at him. There was something hiding in Jason's eyes, and before Sage could ask, it flicked away, and his warm, friendly eyes took over, dominating his thoughts.

"I was going to go get some firewood and then go get a pipper for dinner." Sage paused for a second, then looked back at his room. "If you want to rest, you can lay on my roll till I get back. I'm sure you must be tired after your long journey in the badlands."

A small laugh broke through as Jason looked at the room behind him, then back to Sage. "What, make you go gather firewood, and go hunt a pipper all by yourself? How rude would I be to accept an offer like that?" He looked out towards the forest with a smile, then looked back over towards Sage again. "I'd like nothing more than to go gathering with you again." He smiled as Sage felt his cheeks begin to burn.

"O-Okay..." Sage answered as he took a clumsy step backwards and reached for the door behind him. "We can come back and get my spear after we get the firewood." Shutting the door with a soft slam, he wandered forward, and the two made their way towards the forest. "So, no gagkuts huh, I wonder what happened to the ones who ambushed me..."

Jason let out a little cough of surprise as he tried to keep his voice even. "I uh, well I killed two of the three, but that one-eyed one got away. I have no idea where he went. Speaking of, I saw you got a few good hits in with your torch, they all had singe marks on them, good job holding your own against three of them!"

An uncomfortable pause passed between the two as Sage remembered the encounter with the gagkuts. "Something happened out there Jason... I don't know how to explain it, but I only hit one with the torch. I don't know where those singe marks came from. I remember when I was fighting them, my hands got really warm, and then they started to burn." Jason stayed silent as he listened. "Then I remember them digging into my body as they attacked, but when I woke up that next morning I didn't have any wounds. I mean, even my shirt had cuts going through it with blood soaked through it. They had to have hit me a few times right, so where are the cuts?"

"I don't know man," Jason said hesitantly as he looked around the treeline. "All I know is when I got there, I managed to save you. Then you regained consciousness just long enough to see I was there, then you passed out again..." He bent over to pick a bigger stick that was laying on the ground near the base of a tree.

The sounds of birds and animals began to echo to life as the two entered the forest. Sage watched as Jason went for another stick and smiled as he watched Jason's backside press against his clothing. "Yeah, it doesn't make any sense to me either..." He mumbled out as Jason stood back up.

Turning around, Jason looked at Sage with a pained expression. Sage quickly looked away as he tried to hide the fact he was staring. Speaking up softly, Jason's voice cracked as he suddenly changed the subject. "Hey do you know what a warkile was before the wizards took over the center lands and changed them?"

Sage blinked in surprise at the strange question. "Um, no, I don't... I just knew they were an animal people ate a lot before."

"Yeah, they came from something called a pig. The old-timey folks used to raise millions of them, just to eat them!" Jason said as he leaned over to grab another stick. "I guess they would save the side of them for something called bacon. They loved it so much that one of the bigger countries voted on trying to make it their national food."

"That is interesting, you sure know a bunch about the before times..." Sage answered almost stunned to see a huge branch that had been broken off from a tree and was hanging down low. "Hey Jason, help me take this branch back will you? It can probably keep the fire going all night." Sage turned his attention to the big branch and reached for it.

"Don't!" Jason yelled out suddenly, frightening Sage enough to rip his hand away from the branch. Sage looked back over to him confused as Jason quickly made his way over to the branch where Sage was standing. "Look down." He said anxiously.

Looking down, Sage saw a crudely hidden net that had been buried under bits of leaves and twigs. "Is that a trap?" He asked, looking at the camouflaged device. Following the rope around, he saw that he was standing in a net, and a rope was disguised as a vine snaking up the tree. "Did somebody from the village make this?" He asked while carefully getting out of the trap.

"I don't think that was anybody in the tribe..." Jason answered somberly as he looked around. "I think the gagkuts are learning to hunt." A shiver went down Sage's spine as he thought about the creatures that nearly killed him the week prior learning to kill more efficiently.

"I think the village elder needs to know this." Sage answered as he looked at the thickness of the rope-like net.

"Agreed," Jason answered as he waved for Sage to get closer. "I think we need to be more careful about where we walk too." As Sage drew nearer, he saw what looked like an eye in the bushes that made his skin crawl. "Jason, do you have anything we can use to defend ourselves with?"

Looking around, Jason let out an anxious sigh. "No, I don't, we just have to fight off whatever comes at us barehanded." A sudden cracking of branches set Sage's mind ablaze. "Give me one of those sticks." He demanded as Jason handed him the thicker of the two.

"What are you going to do with it, poke them?" Jason asked as the sound grew louder.

"Get the hell out of here!" Sage yelled as he charged towards the sound, his anger beginning to flare up as he thought of another gagkut attacking them."

Sage come back!" Jason yelled as his footsteps chased after him. "We can't fight a gagkut with sticks, we'll be torn apart!"

Throwing his hand forward, Sage smashed his stick into the brush. It connected with a sickening crack as the stick broke over something. "Ow Sage what the hell!" A high pitched woman yelled out in annoyance as she stepped through the underbrush and covered her head in pain.

"Highlin?" Jason questioned, looking at her confused.

"Who the hell did you think it was?" Highlin growled, glaring at Sage with malice.

Sage's cheeks began to burn red hot as he looked at her sheepishly. "I uh..."

"What are you doing here Highlin?" Jason asked, catching up to Sage and standing awkwardly beside him.

"Well I was going to see if my trap caught any animals, but instead I got smacked on the head by this little shit." Highlin glared as she looked at Sage. "Why did you attack me?"

"We were getting firewood, and I thought another gagkut was trying to ambush us with that trap..." Sage answered uncomfortably as she glared at him.

"That's a new invention of mine." Highlin grumbled as she began to rub her head tenderly. "I thought that if I kept it hidden under the leaves, a warkile would stumble into it, and we would have a better way to catch them and have a more secure supply of food." She looked over to Jason, then back towards Sage. "You really shouldn't be attacking whatever comes stumbling through the woods. You might hit one of the scouts next time, and they're a lot meaner than I am."

"Sorry about that Highlin," Jason spoke up before Sage could open his mouth. "We'll be more careful, Sage is just a bit jumpy after that attack last week. I hope you can forgive us."

Looking at Jason with a pouty face, Highlin took a few steps closer to him. "Promise me your company tonight, and I'll forgive you."

"He's busy tonight Highlin!" Sage interjected pointedly as he stepped between the two. "The only company he is going to have tonight is mine, he promised we would before he left!"

"Aww, the little dog is trying to show off his fangs." Highlin mocked, her eyes rolling casually.

"Keep rolling your eyes bitch," Sage countered as he felt his anger bubbling hotter than before. "You might actually find a brain back there."

"Says the little virgin boy who has been offered a night with any of the girls in town." Highlin spat back, "What was that about having a brain?"

"Okay you two, that's enough," Jason spoke up, trying to stop them from bickering.

Sage felt his hands begin to burn as his heart started to pound. "Maybe I'm saving my first time for somebody I care about instead of a slut like you!"

A smack echoed out into the forest around them, and Sage felt pain quickly burn across his cheek. Glaring at Highlin, he couldn't find the words to respond.

"I said that's enough, and I meant it." Jason growled as he looked angrily towards Highlin. "Come on Sage, we're going." He said as he pulled Sage in close. Malice quickly seeped into his words as he glared at her. "Highlin, I won't be sleeping with you ever again. I recommend you work in the guard force, or try and go out into the wastelands. You bring nothing but hatred wherever you go, and we don't need another you in the village since they obviously won't have any magic."

"You can't choose who you sleep with, the village elder gets to decide!" Highlin spat back unhappily, as she tried to take a step forward. "Besides, I know you want to. I recalling you crying out for more last time."

"Even if I was forced to spend the night with you, I would never have sex with you." Jason spat back in disgust as Sage felt the pain in his cheek begin to fade. "And for your information since you're apparently delusional, I never cried out for more during any of our nights together, and to be honest, you are by far the worst of my sexual encounters." He paused for a moment as the sentence sunk in. "Ever since you went to the highlands a few years ago, you've turned into a raging bitch."

"If you refuse to sleep with me, I'll tell the village that I caught you two having sex out here, then you attacked me to try and keep me quiet." Highlin threatened, her voice beginning to quiver as she tried to hold her dominance.

"I'd rather be having sex with Sage than doing anything with you." Jason spat back as he turned around and walked away, pulling Sage with him.

------------------------------------

Well that's another chapter, what did you think about it? If you liked it a whole bunch, maybe you could leave a vote for the chapter? Maybe a few comments? That would really make my day! Don't forget to get lots of water in you, water is what keeps us alive friends have a fantastical day and I'll see you in the next chapter! :)

-Asted!