Sasha

"You!" It came out in a snarl fitting of a jaguar. The world narrowed to us. Me, my sword, Delar, and this man.

This man, who I hadn't seen in years. Who had abandoned me— us. 

"How dare you show your face here!" I heard the words, muffled from my own lips, and waved my sword. Anger, hot and hungry and better than anything else, coursed through me. Anger I could work with.

The man stepped back. "Listen—" he started again.

"No," I snapped, cutting him off. "No, I don't want to hear it!"

The man stumbled back, his short wavy hair falling into his eyes. "Sasha, please!"

"No, Flynn"— not Father, not anymore— "you have no right to be here." I sneered. I levelled my sword at him.

Someone grabbed my arm. Shoved their way into my sword's path.

The world rushed back into focus. Tyler stood in front of my, his hand around mine on the hilt of my sword. "Put it down." He said, his voice low like a growl. "Before I make you."

I scanned his face. It was unreadable, but serious. I let my grip on the blade slacken.

Tyler took the sword from my hands.

Flynn, emboldened by this, straightened again. He took a step toward me. "Sasha, let me explain. Please." He said.

I felt my lip curl in disgust. A grown man, begging. I set my jaw and met his gaze. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Then just listen, let me explain." Flynn said again, stepping closer.

Tellun, he still smelled like home.

"I always wanted to come back—"

Something inside of me, maybe that little tangle of rage that I'd been gathering back together, exploded. "You've got a lot of nerve, marching in here and expecting me to forgive you!" I snapped. "You were gone for years! You think you can just explain that away? I'm not a child anymore!"

Flynn winced. He reached out, but flinched back when Delar growled. "Sasha, it's not that simple."

"I don't care." I turned, not letting him see how he got to me. "Because whatever you think, I'm not your son anymore. Father." I spat the last word at him, then snatched my sword back from Tyler and stomped away.

I passed close enough to Zay that I saw her lips move, barely making out the words she murmured to herself.

"You, too?"

What? I wondered, but only briefly. My anger was far stronger than my curiosity. I brushed it off and continued past her, into the woods.

I walked until I found a small clearing, then I lifted my sword and shrugged out of my cloak, plunging into the defensive and offensive practices I'd learned.

"That idiot." I growled, slicing through the air with the blade. "He leaves us for years and only shows up now? He thinks he can just walk in and out of my life whenever he wants?!"

Sweat beaded on my brow, trickling down the sides of my face. "Well, too bad. He left me and I'm never letting him back in! I hate him."

I roared with the exertion, swinging my sword up, left and then right. "I don't need him."

I blinked sweat out of my eyes and whirled, swinging my sword around and embedding it in the nearest tree. "I don't need him!"

I yanked my sword free and whirled again. "I. Don't. Need. Him!" I huffed and struck the tree again.

"I! Never! Needed! Him!" I staggered back, leaving the sword as I fell to my knees and bowed my head.

My breath came in gasps, but I was strangely calm as I promised myself; "and I never will need him again."

"Wow." A voice sounded from behind me. "What'd that poor tree ever do to you?"

I recognized Tyler's soft teasing tone immediately and stood, wiping my face on my shirt. "Nothing. Guess I better apologize to it."

Tyler was leaned against a tree across from me, watching with that same unreadable expression as I walked over and pulled my weapon free.

I bent and scooped up my cape, clipping it back on, then resheathed my sword before turning back toward him. "What's up?"

Tyler pushed off the tree and stepped forward. "Nothing. I was going to offer to be a sparring partner, but you seem to be finished."

"Oh." I couldn't figure out what to say. Tyler just nodded, walking over and clapping me on the shoulder.

"Listen, I know that this journey is going to be rough for you." He said, blundering on when I opened my mouth to respond; "I'm not asking you to share all your secrets, nor am I telling you that you have to make up with your father. I just wanted to say that if you ever need anything, I'm here. Even if you need a mock fight to clear your mind, I'll do it."

A lump formed in my throat. "Thanks." I mumbled, eyes on the ground.

"Yeah, don't mention it. I'm hoping that you'll find me a worthy opponent!" Tyler laughed lightly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading the way out of the clearing. "And don't worry about the others. My lips are sealed."

A surge of gratitude swept through me and I smiled. "Thanks, Tyler. You're the best."

"Of course."

We emerged out of the woods, and I immediately spotted my father. I tensed.

Tyler must've felt it, because he leaned close. "You don't even have to talk to him if you don't want to." He assured me, with drawing his arm from around my shoulders as Niko called to him. "And remember to apologize to those trees!" He added as he stepped away.

I chuckled lightly, my nerves evaporating. I ignored my father, walking toward Zay and the others.

We'd been packing up when Flynn arrived, so we continued on with our journey for a while. I walked broodingly near the back of the pack, alone or— surprisingly— in the company of one Stetriolian snake summoner. She didn't talk much, but she wasn't exactly terrible company.

We made camp just before night fell, another clearing off the beaten path. I kept my bedroll near the edge of it, away from Flynn.

But as all the others settled into sleep, I stayed upright and awake. I curled my arms around my knees, surveying my sleeping teammates.

A few paces away, a movement on Zay's bedroll caught my eye. She sat up, shaking her head.

I shifted curiously. Beside me, Delar stirred. The jaguar had curled himself protectively around me when I'd settled down. We'd gotten closer today. Somehow.

Zay looked around. Her gaze met mine, lit by the crescent moon. Then she crept over. She nearly stepped on Delar's tail, but he merely flicked it aside. Not even a growl.

"Hi." I whispered.

"Hi." She answered gruffly. Her short hair was missed with sleep. It was kind of cute. Objectively.

I shifted. "What's up?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." She responded lowly. "You do realize that not sleeping is only going to make everything worse, right?"

I scoffed. "It can't get worse."

She narrowed her eyes. Then she glanced toward Delar. "No luck with passive?" She stated it like a fact, not meant to hurt.

I didn't stiffen. In fact, my shoulders slumped. "Nope."

Zay hesitated. Then she stood. "Come on."

I frowned, but didn't question it.

We left the clearing and made our way out into the woods. We stopped after a while.

I looked around. "What are we doing here?"

"I want you to try something. It helped me and Xavier a lot." She gestured.

I sat down beside her.

"Where's Delar?"

"There." I jerked my thumb toward a shadow.

She raised a brow, but didn't question it. Zay released Xavier from passive. "Invite Delar to come over."

I did as she said. The jaguar padded over. He sat in front of me and yawn disinterestedly. Then he started washing his paws.

"Just... talk to him. I won't be listening." She added quickly, scooting back and doing the same with Xavier.

"Um, okay." I faced Delar.

He paused in his washing, watching me closely, but not with hostility.

"Erm, hello. I, um, I kind of want to get to know you better." I cleared my throat.

Delar wrapped his tail over his paws, looking politely interested.

"I, um... where to start? Well, I really like the pattern of your fur and, um... ugh, this is harder than it looks."

"That's because you're not focused!" Zay said.

"I'm trying!" I grumbled.

"Try harder." Zay replied with a snort. "Why don't you tell him about your father?"

I winced. That was a terrible idea. "No." I responded shortly.

"Touché." Zay rolled her eyes. "Okay, try talking about your team."

"Oh, um..." I thought for a moment. "Okay, well, I really like Tazi, Sabien and Niko, even though they're kind of sissies... Ryan's a tad bit annoying, because of her positivity... Tyler's great, though he sometimes acts like a lame old da-" my voice hitched. "Okay, that's it." I growled, flopping backward, "I'm done."

Zay walked over, Xavier spiralling up her arm. "That's it? You just quit?"

"No, I-"

"I get what it's like." She interrupted, "family stuff is hard. But when you get a new form with sword practice or whatever, do you just give up?"

"I- no. I do it over and over until I have it perfected." I answered with a sigh.

"Then that's what we're going to do with this." Zay replied. "Practice it over and over until we have it perfect."

I groaned. "Could we maybe not do it in the middle of the night then? Maybe—" I stopped.

"Maybe what?" Zay sounded impatient.

"Shh!" I hushed her. My hearing had sharpened, and I distinctly heard the sounds of very large animals nearby. "Can you hear that?"

Zay strained to listen. "Yes." She finally breathed. "What is it?"

"Not sure." I whispered back. "But let's find out." I turned to Delar, who was watching me closely. "Thanks, D."

Delar blinked at me, acknowledging it with a smug lick on his paw.

Zay raised an eyebrow and took my arm as we crept forward. Together, we crested the rise and peered over top. What we spotted in the meadow below caused identical grins to bloom on our faces.

Dun dun duhhhhhhn! What could it be??? You'll have to wait and see! Next chap coming soon!

edit: 10/01/2024
me when i neglect schoolwork lol
anyway here's navia's bday thing
hope you enjoy etc etc