Chương 53: Chapter Forty Nine: The Cabin By The Stream

All of a sudden the glowing mushrooms seemed to lose a good deal of color and light. The whispers that had constantly harassed my poor ears came to an abrupt halt too. Is that it? Is it over? My fingers slowly unclench from around the burning lobes, I exhaled a breath of relief and looked around again. It all looks much dimmer now. What is that clicking thing? What's wrong with me? Worrying my lip over all the uncertainty being thrown my way I decided it wasn't worth a migraine. Just focus on shelter.

Lucian the naturalist seems to be of the mindset that it's nearby. But how does he know where we're going? Everything looks the same. More trees. More glowy mushrooms. Is it that sound? The stream from before? I can't hear it as well now. It's faint but I think we're getting closer.

"We're here." I was jostled around a bit as the person holding me stepped over a couple of rocks positioned inside a constantly flowing water source to get to the other side. Lucian smacked a branch out of his face and it snapped back to hit Lowell on his head. I shot him a sheepish look and he gave me a wintery one. Oh, he's mad mad. Is it because of his hair? That's going to take a lot of conditioner and a really good comb to fix. Did he brush his hair with a tree branch or something?

My hair's feeling kind of greasy too. A particularly annoying sticky strand was stuck to the side of my face. I want a bath. Does Lucian have a bathtub here? What's that smell? Something's burning. The last of the brush opened up and I risked a glance. Upon arrival I saw a cabin with a bonfire in front of it. Thank god. I am so cold. I shivered and automatically curled deeper into the human radiators neck.

"How are you so warm? It's freezing."

"Lycan blood. Now stop touching me with those icicles." He shivered and angled me away from him. I bit my lip but did as he said anyway witching thinking. Usually I'd put up more of a fight. Say something annoying and sardonic. But I'm feeling oddly passive right now. Maybe it's because I just woke up. I am a little groggy. Maybe I caught a cold. Where's Penguin when I need him? I could use a potion right now. Lucian set me down in front of the fire on an overturned log and I instantly missed the warmth he brought.

Even though I was right in front of the fire I could feel myself getting colder. I used my hands to rub my arms but it was no use. Lucian walked inside the cabin and my eyes followed him. Where is he going? Why is he leaving? Is he coming back? [Ria snap out of it!] An annoying but familiar voice finally broke through the shield around my mind. It crumbled and all I got was annoying quacking from my least favorite flightless bird. Penguin? [Yes, it's me! Ria, how did you keep me out? That's not important, your health points are dropping too fast. Take a health potion now!] My hands stopped rubbing at my sides as I remained stunned. What? [Take the potion!] The urgency couldn't be faked and I jolted. I looked around and saw Lowell standing by the fire trying to get warm. I have to be sneaky. I slung around and opened my bag so I could pretend to pull out a health potion from inside. Secretly I drank a quarter of it's contents and stuck out my tongue at the taste. Gross!

That tastes like strong medicine for sure. I want something sweet to chase it. However bitter the medicine was, I noticed the difference within moments. My fingers stopped being numb and I finally began warming up by the fire. Exhaling a sigh of relief, I curled up into myself and tried to hide my fingers in my thighs. So cold out here. What was that? This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Even and measured after solving the more critical issue, it answered. [Possibly the consequences of drinking a lycanthrope's blood and a night in the outdoors. I'm still running diagnostics on you.] What? [A werewolf Ria. You imprinted on that wolf last night when you lost your senses.] Why? Why would I do that? What's imprinting? [Penguin explains to me the gist of what happened while I stare off into the fire.]"..." Blood rushed to my cheeks as I thought of how much trouble I was probably in.

A permanent lilac tint bloomed underneath the pale skin. Especially with Lowell. Did he really take care of me all night? [Yes, Ria. He and that werewolf. They dealt with numerous dangers while you slumbered unaware of the chaos you caused both outside and inside.] What does that mean? [Your mind kept rejecting reality due to the sensory overload you were enduring. I had to temporarily dismantle certain functions that come with the shifting from a fledgling to a true vampire like you are now.] What about Lucian?

Did I hurt him? […] What? You said I bit him, right? [I'm going to let that go because of the predicament you're in. Ria, next time you feel unwell. You say something. You don't bottle it up until you explode like last night.] [Do you think that was the right thing to do? Do you know what you put me through last night? I almost thought I failed at the very beginning.] The scolding is based in a bit of selfishness but the truth of it was sound. I may have fibbed a little. I'm sorry.

Tears drip down my face and I wipe them away with the back of my hand. Penguin's quiet for a few seconds. [Ria. Why are you crying?] I don't know okay. I'm—All out of sorts. I can't. I can't tell you something like that because I-I don't know how. I've never had to. [You've never had to tell a doctor why you're in pain or a parent why–]"No, ok. Never. They didn't–Not everyone has someone to complain to–""Who are you talking too?" Lowell stands beside me with a concerned look on his face.

I sniffle and keep looking into the blaze.

"Um…the fire?"

"Are you sure about that?"

"..." I stared ahead into the fire. Don't look. Don't look. Don't look. Steps from the squeaky porch caught both of our attention. Yay. He's back. Saved by the werewolf. A tiny burst of endorphins flooded my brain and my cheeks hurt from all of the smiling I was doing. That's so weird. [Tell me about it.] This happens to everyone? [Yes, Ria.] Then who's Erichean's Imprint? What's an Imprint supposed to do anyway? Can't we feed from anyone or anything?

Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of being able to eat everything? Lucian walked towards us in a brand new tunic and leather pants. Interestingly enough. No shoes. What for? I have no idea. Maybe he likes having pebbles embedded in his flat foot and callouses sharp enough to cut granite. He pulls up his trousers and sits on the same log as me. It tilts towards him and I slide near his leg. A warm hand grabs my head and yanks me off of the log so he can place me a little further away from him.

Only for me to slide down again.

"..." He left me alone after that and I secretly enjoyed the heat he emitted. He crossed his arms and started with his priorities, "Now. I get that you're in a rush but I'm tired and hungry as shit. I was supposed to be hunting but plans changed. So we're going to eat before we head out." He plucked a log from a pile us and threw it into the bonfire. It crackled and ate up the sacrifice.

"What?" Lowell protests. Lucian retorts in a rare joking tone that doesn't match his colder disposition, "Aye! I was your precious kid's milkmaid last night. I deserve to eat. Now cough it up. Whatever food you have, let's cook it." He rubs his hand together and holds them out.

"Milkmaid? That's one way to put it." Lowell scoffs and empties his pockets. Nothing. No food. Guess that leaves me. I rummage through my bag and hold out my treasured wax paper bag of bacon.

"What about this?" Lucian snatches it from my hand and opens it up. Once it's been given the stamp of approval he throws it down the hatch without even chewing. Lowell raises a hand in astonishment.

"What about us?" Lucian warns Lowell with a wintery look.

"Don't even kid." Then he turns to me with a slightly warmer look.

"Got any more of that?" Lowell groans and I spend the next ten minutes throwing food into this man's endless black hole of a stomach. A tiny sip of tea in a clay bowl here and there to wash it down. Lowell still couldn't let go of the fact that a suspected murderer was just having tea.

"So your solution having a late lunch was to eat me?" Stubbornly Lucian countered.

"Why not? I was hungry." Lowell fumed turned as red as his hair, "Why not? Why not! Because I can talk! Because I was innocently passing by and that's no reason to lay hands on another shifter." It's abhorrent.

"I'm all of those things and this one took a chunk out of me." Lucian grabbed my head with his large hand and shook it a little. I saw stars. But mostly I didn't reject it. After that the fight in Lowell fizzled out and I never had any to begin with. So Lucian spent a relaxing dinner with two statues. The only thing I have left in terms of food is milk mixed with Ichor, crumpets, tea, and jam. All things that have no blood or meat in them.

So Lucian ignored it and ate up the delicacies that were once alive and kicking. Lowell's been scratching at the ground with a branch despondently in the meantime. I think he's trying to map out where we came from. That's a good idea. I asked nonchalantly while he eats one of the last of my ham sandwiches, "So where are we exactly?" He sucks a finger and chases his meal down with some water in a deerskin bag.

"My territory." That's kinda vague. I guess there might not be many specific names for parts of the forest. I tested the waters, "Are we closer to the witches or closer to the capital?"

"Witches. Capital's a couple days away by now." He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. I have an actual napkin that he can use. Lowell interjects with a couple of questions of his own."How do you know that? Why are you out here then? And where's your pack?"

"..." The air seems to have been sucked out of the forest all of a sudden. The cold look that had just begun to warm up returns and I glare at Lowell. Nice going. He looks a bit startled but otherwise unrepentant for the insensitive question. What's happened to his temper? Usually he's pretty quiet and soft spoken. I've never seen him act like this. If anything he's acting like– [You.] My eyes flash with a sudden epiphany. But-No. I mean. I'm not like that right? [Yes, you are. All the time. Without a mute button.] Aren't you chatty today. [I've had a long night.] You sound like a single mom with eleven kids and two jobs. Are you all like that? Do you all gain… how do you word this… Ah! Humanity over time? […] Penguin?