Chapter 14

Dharsha woke early from habit. There was no in-between drowsiness for him, no moment of sleep washed confusion. That weakness had been driven from him at the hands of the woodsmen, who too often had taken pleasure in startling him out of slumber with cruel pranks. Awareness of his surroundings came in a quick moment of recognition. The trader's guest cabin. The smell of dog and human man. Caled's solid warmth next to him, parts of his body brushing Dharsha's beneath the covers, making his skin tingle. The faint sounds of the animals in the neighboring stable and the more distant ones of forest life. It was a good talent for a hunter to possess, he thought and surprised himself with the notion. A hunter. Him.

He'd never held much hope for it, honestly. Nor had his mother or aunts, Dharsha being small and shy and tending towards more creative things as a child. At home, competing against more robust brethren, he might certainly have shied from that path, but here - -

Here, even young as he was, not fully matured, he was stronger and faster and keener of senses than human men. At least when he was properly fed and not beaten into submission. It was not so far fetched that a small neko might become a proficient hunter in the lands of men.

His ears perked, lips twitching in a smile that had not touched them in a very long time. As long as it had been since he allowed himself to dream.

The dog whined softly at him, poking her nose over the edge of the bed, then padding to the door expectantly. He slipped carefully out from beneath the covers and cracked the door to let her out to attend to nature's call. He felt the need himself and pulled the coat Caled had given him over his shoulders before slinking out himself. Handling himself to urinate brought no pain with it, the soreness having finally left his private parts. A fleeting wash of shame shuddered through him, remembering the morning ritual imposed upon him by the woodsmen. The humiliation of relieving himself as an animal might while they stood and laughed and urged that more hated dog to subjugate him as it would.

He shook off the memory with a flick of his ears and hurried back inside the cabin, feet already numb from the snow. He put more wood in the stove. Slinking back to the warmth of the bed was a luxury that he hesitated to allow himself. Despite Caled's apparent dismissal of the embarrassing incident a few mornings' past, Dharsha could not quite erase it from mind. And he found he liked, more than he ought, the feel of the man's smooth, hairless skin. A confusing thing and a dangerous one.

So better he find other distractions. Better to putter about the tiny cabin, gathering snow to melt atop the woodstove and rummaging about the pack for the little pouches of tea and pungent coffee. He dressed while the water heated, carefully hiding his tail and ears, then went to restock the wood they had used from the snow covered stack outside, then to the stable to see that the horses got their morning measure of grain. The dog returned inside with him afterwards, body twitching, tail thumping, nose cold as snow itself when she shoved it under his palm. A friendly dog, with no issues of dominance. He hesitantly patted her head and her tail thumped all the faster.

She abandoned him quickly enough, though, for her master, trotting to the low bed and shoving her nose under the covers. That roused Caled readily enough; wet, cold dog nose a startling jolt to snug comfort.

A soft curse, aimed at the eager dog issued from beneath the covers and eventually a sigh and a moving back of furs. Caled blinked warily about the small room, no pleasant look upon his face. Dharsha well knew the foul temper of men who had partaken too much of drink the night before. He waited warily, recalling no few times when he'd been the victim of hangover induced cruelty.

But Caled only scrubbed a hand across his face, fingers lingering to press against his temples, muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

He smelled he scent of brewing coffee, Dharsha could tell, the moment he looked out from under his palm towards the woodstove, nostrils flaring. He took in other things. Dharsha's fully dressed form. The restocked wood.

"Aren't you just damned chipper," Caled grumbled, no doubt feeling none of it himself. Dharsha found he did not take offense. Something even warmed a little inside him, a curl of amusement he'd not known he was capable of any more.

"Will we break fast with the trader or shall I fix something from our own stock?"

Caled glared blearily at him, jaw working, then shut his eyes and drew a deep breath. Calming stomach or nerves. "I've a mind for fresh bread. Go see if he has a loaf. Butter would be nice if he has it. And don't let him see your ears. I'm not in a mood to explain you."

Dharsha nodded, grabbing his hat and pulling it down carefully over his ears. He tromped back out into the snow, the dog on his heels, and up the front porch of the trading post. He rapped politely on the door and entered at the bellow from inside. The trader rustled about in the back, in thick, well-patched winter underwear and unlaced, fur-lined boots. Indeed he had bread from yesterday and butter, as well as a wheel of sharp cheese that he sliced a wedge from. All to be added to Caled's tab, he proclaimed, and gave Dharsha the bundle of wrapped food with a brown-toothed grin.

When he got back, Caled was at the basin, in trousers and shirt and boots, hair a little wet from the water he'd splashed on his face. He'd already poured himself a tin of coffee and it sat, half consumed on the table next to him.

They consumed the plain fare, Caled's appetite less than hearty, and wrapped the leftovers for dinner. Dharsha sat afterwards, waiting. His patience, he found had become a fine honed thing.

"Ka Lamar is 10 days travel to the northwest," Calad finally said, having come to some decision. "The fur trade is not so good as Ponvar, but - - " he trailed off, thoughts drawing him inward.

"I thought - -" Dharsha ventured. "You said Chesna?"

Caled's blue eyes flicked up. "If they come asking, that's what he'll tell them."

Dharsha nodded once, understanding. Caled was still covering their tracks.

They left before the sun was full high in the sky. Caled bargaining with the trader for a few more items to round out their supplies.

Then it was back onto the trail, heading in the direction of Chesna, until they were well beyond the trading post. Then Caled took them off the trail, picking his way through dense woods. The dog romped easily across snow covered obstacles, but it was slow going for the horses, both Caled and Dharsha walking ahead of each, to uncover hidden pitfalls that might tangle with a horse leg and send an animal down.

Dharsha found that the cold was not so uncomfortable now as it had been. Not so foreign as those wintry days when he'd been forced out into it naked, at the whim of cruel masters. Properly clothed and in better company, he discovered a beauty in these cold forests, no less poignant than that of the lush greenery of home. He hesitated to admit the feeling of light heartedness that crept over him as they traveled, for fear that it might be snatched away. But it wasn't, as the day progressed, and he even ventured to ask Caled about this or that in regards to these northern forests and Caled answered agreeably enough.

They ate bread on the trail, and hard cheese, washing it down with mouthfuls of clean snow. The dog caught a large rodent and came back with a blood spattered muzzle and a happily wagging tail. The blood smell sent little tingles of some primal excitement racing under Dharsha's skin. The idea of the hunt was appealing, though strangely enough he'd never felt those prickly urges before, when he'd been younger in the forests of home.

A sign of onrushing maturity, perhaps. He did not know, having no mother and aunts to explain it.

They reached what might have been a game trail for some fleet footed mountain creature, come evening. A narrow path along the concave edge of a ravine that Caled wanted safely across before darkness fell. The trail to Ka Lamar, he said, lay a day's walk on the other side and the place itself another six days lying well within the foothills. It was blanketed with snow and uncertain footing for the horses, so Caled instructed Dharsha to wait with the animals, while he took a stout stick and tested the way first.

Dharsha leaned against the shoulder of the docile pack animal while the trapper carefully made his way around the curving trail, testing for the edge with the stick, dislodging snow and ice as he went. The dog sat with Dharsha, unmindful of the snow as she bent to the task of scratching behind one ear.

A muffled creaking made Dharsha's ears prick, and a moment later Caled cried out the white under his feet crumbling. He made a frantic grab for the cliff as his footing slipped away, but there was nothing to grab. He fell and only just caught at some outcropping of rock at the very edge, cutting the plunge short and leaving him dangling by one gloved hand off the edge of the trail. It was no solid grip and even as Dharsha moved towards the trail to help, the man's gloved fingers slipped on ice crusted rock.

There was no time for anything but the most drastic of efforts. Twenty-five across the chasm. A neko in his prime might make the leap. Dharsha had no time to consider his chances. He simply bolted for the edge, bunched his muscles and launched himself into the air. The face of the cliff loomed up, a narrow, uncertain snow covered landing did. He might have landed better if his tail had been free to act as a balancer, as it was, one foot landed solidly, the other slipped, but only marginally as he extended a hand and dug his claws into Caled's coat as the man lost his grip.

Dharsha forced his weight backwards, dragging Caled with him. The man was not so heavy that Dharsha found it impossible to drag him up over the edge one handed. They toppled backwards, against the rock wall, and lay entangled afterwards, breath coming hard and fast.

"Claws," Caled gasped after a moment and Dharsha realized his hand still gripped the trapper's forearm, claws biting deep through thick rawhide and fur and into the flesh beneath. Gingerly he relaxed his hand and the faint scent of blood tainted cold air. Caled let out a breath and closed his eyes, dropping his forehead onto Dharsha's shoulder while his pulse slowed.

Dharsha's own blood still beat harshly under his skin, stirred by the fear and his feat and very likely the scent of blood and waning human fear. Caled's scent, period. Clean and musky and unique. Compelling. The closeness was compelling in a way that it had not been before, when Dharsha had been willing to endure for the sake of shelter. He felt a tingling now in his nether parts that had nothing to do with sacrifice and everything to do with the heat of honest desire. Or perhaps it was merely the exhilaration trilling in his veins.

"Clet's blood," Caled breathed, pushing himself up finally, to look over his shoulder across the chasm that Dharsha had leapt. "You leapt from there to here?"

Dharsha shrugged, feeling an odd lack of humility. "It seemed the thing to do."

Caled shook his head, giving the crumbled edge where he'd fallen a dark look. "I think we'd best look for a safer route as this one appears unreliable."

He pushed himself up, back to the wall and held out a hand for Dharsha. Dharsha took it and let the trapper help haul him up.

"Thank you," Caled said softly when they'd returned to the horses and had solid ground under them. "I've often enough envisioned a lonely death up here, the highlands holding little in way of mercy for man, and I would have met it today, if not for you."

If not for him, Caled would never have been on this trail heading to a destination not of his choosing, but Dharsha refrained from saying it, knowing well enough that Caled was aware. He nodded.

"It would have been easier with my tail."

Caled lifted a brow questioningly and Dharsha explained.

"It helps with the landings. Among other things. Walking with it stuffed down my pant leg is - - disconcerting."

"By all means, take it out then. They'll be few enough travelers till the foothills to take notice. And none past that on the lookout for runaway slaves."

Dharsha nodded, grateful and did just that.