Nushii and Vodra sat, unshackled and free, their hands only occupying themselves with the food they got served.

As they sat about a cooking fire with a bubbling pot of fresh fish stew, Michael and Urla would be slowly eating as well.

"Uhm... so since we are free, dae-... ah-... Mikel? What is it you expect us to do for the pack?" Vodra asked before even thinking to touch the food. If she knew something certain, we all have to pay our dues, one way or another.

Nushii on the other hand began lapping up directly from her food bowl, her claws slightly digging in the wooden surface. "Yeah... hm... also are we to sleep with Zhuun and Raksha in that same shack?"

Michael made a mental note of what Nushii said the two's names were. 'Good to know. Will make it easier to interact with them.' The young man then took a spoonful of the food and cleared his throat after swallowing, relating to Urla what the two Hay-yen said.

"Hm... if we are to let them truly stay, they mustn't be in the same place as those we regard as prisoners. Tis difficult, for I do not think anyone from the tribe would be too at ease to have them under the same roof as them. Most except maybe... you." She said back with her usual soft yet monotonous voice.

"Yeah... I don't mind." Michael said with a nod, which got the attention of the two Hay-yen as they could only understand him.

"You have reached a conclusion about that, then?" Vodra asked as her gaze locked on Michael's eyes, as if trying to scan his alien face for any form of reaction.

The young man took a moment to reduce a full blown teeth showing smile to just a slightly curled lip reaction, watching his own expression carefully. "Yes. I will be forward with you. Although we have generally agreed for you to join us here, tensions are still in the air. The history between the Tuskir and Hay-yen doesn't help the situation, so you two will be living in the same shack with me, until we can build additional housing. We also were against the idea of you remaining in the same lockup with... how did you call them? Zhuun and Raksha? Since they are still prisoners and you aren't, we wanted that to be a distinction you can see and feel."

Nushii looked at Michael at a bit of a loss for words, but Vodra let out a small chuckled cackled. "Clever way to get into our good graces, bold to tell us the reason behind the choice, instead of making up false reasons. You might not admit it, but telling this to us is meant to take us by surprise, because nobody sane here would admit all that directly. You want to inspire trust to us."

Michael would translate to Urla what Vodra said and already knowing Michael's words she snorted a huff. "She's about as clever as you, hmmpf. I appreciate that in people." The elder said as she leaned back a bit in her stool.

"Yes. If you wanted to leave, you had the option, if I felt like you had any hidden motives, I wouldn't have suggested this, but... the past while we had you here... the two of you... My kind has an amazing ability to feel, or at least we think we feel, the emotions of creatures unlike us, but with which we spend time with. You two just seemed hopeless, miserable and those things made you do what you had to survive, but not neccesarily like it. The moment you were given an alternative, you softened and relaxed." Michael said as he took another spoonful of food, his eyes looking now directly at Vodra, instead of switching up between her and Nushii. "You specifically have more life in your eyes. I know what it is like to feel miserable, hopeless, like you have no control and no direction."

Nushii looked at Vodra as Michael spoke, her ears twitching in silent surprise. "I also felt better... the baths were nice. I think even back in The Cackle... the most washing we did was simply in the river with plain water."

"Glad you liked it and apologies for keeping you in shackles. If it felt degrading to be helped to wash up, I'm sorry for that too." The human said with a bowing nod of his head.

"Degrading?! Pfft... heard stories from some of the older of my people that only royal folk got servants an' stuff to clean 'em. Haha! Far from it." Nushii said with a cackling laugh.

"Huh... right. Cultural difference. Back home such a thing was in the far past of my people. Those that were given help washing while washing were usually the very young, the very old or those with disabilities." Michael said as his mind pondered a moment how time is exactly passing back home. Like it is here? Faster? Slower? Best case scenario, if time passes the same then he's been gone for a bit over a month. Worst case... 'God... will I even have a family to come back to?' The young thought for a second as dread engulfed him. Still, this fear he had to shake off for now to focus.

Vodra, who's been pondering what Michael said about how it seemed to him that she had been feeling, snaps back to the conversation when she hears the furless man speaking about how his kind treat the old and the disabled. "Your kin takes care even of their disabled? You don't just kill them or exile them since they can't provide for themselves or contribute to the pack?"

"Hm... I am curious of that as well. We take care of the elders, be they disabled or not, since we can learn from their wisdom. But someone younger, but unable to provide for themselves... although we didn't have to deal with such a situation yet... depending on the season and supplies... even we might make the choice of exile. By older tradition, old Tuskir men, usually leave the tribe to live their final years by themselves, as to not consume the tribe's resources needlessly. Still... even we strayed from that practice after the fractioning of our kin's small empire." Urla said as her eyes wandered to Spek's tree for a solemn moment stopping to gaze at it.

"It depends. Longer ago that would have been more common, but with time, as certain things had gotten easier, so it had gotten more common to take care of them, to change things around to accomodate for their needs, hell... our society was so varied in the ways you could make a living, if you disability was of a certain type, you could still earn a good living by your own effort. Still... even in the present of my people there are certain parts where those unable to take care of themselves are left alone or tossed aside." Michael said with a clear dishartened expression. "Here... I'd understand why you'd have to do that... it's horrible and unfair, but such is life... I understand it... back home... it feels even worse, because of the good things our society was able to do. Still... that good is uneven there, so... there are still plenty who go through this."

Both the two Hay-yen and Urla listened, carefully. The human, although alien in how he looked, his tone spoke to them even more than his words ever could. They all had known sorrow and frustration at one point or another, so it wasn't hard to feel Michael's.

"Aghem-... apologies if we-..." Vodra attempted to say, but a shake of Michael's head made her pause.

"It is fine. Let's just return to our conversation." He said as he sat aside his bowl of food and instead took a few big gulps of water from hid waterskin.

"Right. Well... I think... that was it? I am presuming work will be given to us based on what we know how to do. So I don't feel like I have anything else to ask." Vodra said as she finally felt at ease enough to taste her food, by now lukewarm.

Nushii at this point let out a curioud short cackle as she tilted her head. "Say... you aren't afraid that if we sleep in the same place, we might want to take revenge while you sleep?"

At this comment Vodra chocked on her food, part of it going up her nose and out the nostrils. "Agh- hah! Are you stupid?! Hack- agh! Troxshit... agh-... you don't ask something so stupid." She said with an angry growl towards Nushii.

At this point Michael snickered and let out a small laugh as he wiped his eyes, which got the two Hay-yen to pause and looked at him confused. "I was thinking about it, but then I realized that, I was careless during many of our interactions. You would have had many other opportunities to have me as hostage or to harm me if you wanted to. But, I know you don't, because the only place you'd could have then left to, by your own descriptions, treats you possibly worse than we have had treated you. You'd have to be daft to do that and I am sure you two are anything, but that. Hell... I'm so confident I'd be fine that I wouldn't be afraid to share a bed with you both."

At that remark Urla looked at Michael with slightly more open than usual eyes, yet still expressionless, by the normal standard, while Nushii and Vodra stared at him with jaws slightly hanging and ears perked up.

The young man starting to calm down from his chuckling, quickly noted the change in atmoshpere and just as fast he realized what he said. "AH! NO WAIT. I MEANT IT LIKE LITERALLY SHARING A BED! Where I am from, ugh... at least from my specific... tribe? Country? Damn it... the specific tribe of my people where I am from, it is not uncommon for people that trust one another to share beds if necessary. It is a sign of trust!" He said loudly, about as flustered as the others involved in this subject.

Urla let out the faintest of snorts that she managed to supress, so well in fact, that Michael looked at her as if she had sneezed. "Hm... that is a unique custom. But very functional. Usually only blood kin or families share beds here." She said in her normal soft and calm voice.

After a moment of pause for everyone to clear their minds, Urla, who had brewed herself a fresh mug of tea, gave Michael a light tap on the shoulder with her staff. "I believe it would be well to tell them now why we actually wished to talk with them."

The young man nodded approving as he then looked at Vodra, who had finished her meal, and Nushii, who was chowing down on a second filling.

"Right... there is another reason we actually wished to speak with you. I believe that if we are to work together, there is a required need for trust and sincerity. So... as we had discussed among ourselves, we had come to the agreement that your previous... Cackle mate? Uhm... Letra. She is a risk whether she is locked here or let go. To avoid any chances of her causing problems to us... I had agreed to carry out her execution." Michael said as he cupped his left fist with his right hand tightly. He still hadn't fully conciously come to grips with what he needed to do. As much as talked about being able to do it, there's always that lack of true understanding of a grim situation, right until you actually need to do it.

Nushii had stopped eating, her ears slightly lowering as she listened. Vodra's gazed at the human nodding slow as she paid attention as well.

"It does not surprise me. The Hay-yen also take care of problematic individuals in this manner, even those who are supposed to be part of The Cackle..." Vodra said as for a moment her dead tone returned to her, the same sort of tone she used to have when she first got here, but only for a moment. She then shook her head and huffed. "Tis not our nor your fault it has come to this. We kept trying to reason with her. It is only her choice that brought her here."

Nushii silently thought for a second before she nodded along with a short sad sounding whined cackle leaving her throat. "It would have been nice to have her around... if she wasn't always so agressive. She wasn't like that when we were pups." She mumbled as her ears flopped.

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"Tsk... that is in the past, Nushii. Who she used to be is not her anymore. Can't blame her though... I was like that for a while, but then I understood how meaningless life was under The Devourer. So I couldn't even be agressive anymore... I just wished to sit and exist... wait out my time... I don't know what she thinks... I don't know if that is how copes with out lot in life or if its devotion to our God... but it is her choice." Vodra barked with a growl of frustration as she then looked at Michael. "Have you thought how you'll do it?"

The human stared into the half burning fire as he took in a deep breath and he lightly shook his head. "N-no... although I was first to spear head this idea... I keep doubting my own proposition. Speaking with you didn't help to make it clearer. I was thinking to make it a fight, so she could go out as she seems to want... attempting to take one of us down, but that is risky... then I thought to give her a good meal laced in Woh's poison, but I have seen how someone awake reacts to it... it would be horrific for her even though short."

Michael took his water skin and he poured some of the water on his forehead and hair, running his hand through the messy, now decently longer, curled brown hair. 'I know that if she was given the chance she'd slaughter us... hell if she could she'd make me suffer, but I don't want to do that... not even for her, just for myself... I don't want to be a monster like her, but neither can I go back on my decision.'

"Woh? Who's Woh?" Nushii asked as she tilted her head once more, seemingly the gesture was one of curious inquiry, at least in this particular Hay-yen.

"That'd be me. Ribbit~." The tiny pink Amphoran said in the tongue of the Hay-yen, although rather crude.

The pink frog like humanoid was squatting in front of the two Hay-yen while chewing on half of a very fat and gooey looking Vurm, another two wriggling under her right arm. She appeared as if out of thin air, just a tiny figure clad in her black body tight outfit and a pink and purple spotted head looking up with bubbly eyes at the two furred predators. Her gaze seemed almost empty as she croaked in a giddy manner while slurping on her squirmy meal.

"AAAGH! DEATH'S LOVER!" Nushii yelped while falling back of her stool, legs up.

Vodra with a less intense reaction, did flinch in surprise, but she didn't move. Her eyes focused on Woh as her mind seemed to process this. "Ah... so you are most likely the reason one of ours got poisoned after the initial ambush on Mikel and some Tuskie at the river. The report mentioned something about a Death's Lover running off. The furless one used your poison back then too, huh?"

"Yeeeeeah... that'd be lil' ol' me. Te-hee, heh..." Woh croaked an awkward laugh. "Although I'd say that was justified. Ahm-" The Amphoran said as she took a bite out of another vurm. "Ifsh yhour bhuddies didn' try to attachk us... ith wouldn' hav' gon' to dat."

"Agreed." Vodra said before she looked back and down at Nushii. "Are you alright? She's not going to attack us, you fool."

"I know! She just took me by surprise!" Nushii groaned annoyed as she got back up to her feet. After a moment taken to calm down, she looked back at Woh and that tilt of the head appeared once more. "What is with the weird clothes you wear? Why is it... one... piece?"

Woh took a second to swallow and another five to munch down quickly on her last vurm. "Hm? Ah this?" She said tugging at her own suit? "Michael had some funny looking gloves an' the material they were made from doesn't let water through them so neither does my poison go through it. I can touch people while I wear it!" The tiny pink frog woman said as she hopped happily. "I even got a mask for my head to go eith it, but I don't really wear it, cause it's stuffy."

As Nushii listened she seemed quite curious and, as if she was the embodiment of no self control, she just reached and lightly booped Woh's belly with the top of one of her furred digits.

Urla and Michael had no reaction to this as they knew it was safe, Woh realizing what was happening started swaying on her long feet excitedly at the situation. 'OH! Someone else is finally touching me and I didn't have to ask for it! Kero!' She thought extatic.

While Nushii did the motion, Woh grasped onto her fingers and she climbed on top of the back of her hand.

Vodra looked at the interaction calmly, but a shakey leg that she kept her hand on, confirmed the sheer nervousness the interaction initially gave her. 'By The Dev-... The Gods... thought she was gonna drop dead.'

Nushii lifted Woh up and gave her a closer look. "Does this mean that before this suit you couldn't touch nobody?"

Woh nodded as she gave a shrug and a small croak. "Y-yeah... but that feels like a life time ago... ever since I got my suit, I have been doing so many things I couldn't before! Although the first few days I had it, I did so much touching with people, I got tired of it a bit even, heh."

"That's good. Cuddles are nice, but it's sad you can't really get head pats on your bare head or nuzzle with someone." Nushii said, her ears half floppy as she seemed to feel a sort of pity.

Woh gave a cheeky croak in return. "Nuh-huh. There's one person that can do it." The tiny frog then took a leap from Nushii's hand to Michael's shoulder.

"You have got to be jesting..." Vodra said with a huff. "You can survive a Death Lover's touch?"

"Multiple in fact. Initially it used to have a pretty strong effect on me, kinda bad actually, but I uhm... I even use it as a bit of a... heh... pick me up during fights?" Michael answered awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck.

Vodra and Nushii just looked at him as if the human had just said the most demented thing they had ever heard.

"Uhm... it doesn't surprise me that we lost anymore..." Nushii whispered to Vodra as she kept looking at Michael as if he was a ghost.

"I'm surprised how sane he sounds when he talks despite thinking of doing something so crazy to help him fight..." Vodra retorted in a similar shushed tone. She groaned while holding onto the bridge of her snout for a moment, shaking her head.

Michael, a bit caught up mentally on the thought on how it was correct to deal with Letra, had suddenly come to a realization. His expression changed, as his featured had turned a bit more steely, more certain.

"Uhm... I'm sorry to break from the conversation, but we will have to stop it here." The young man said as he then turned to Urla. "I know we had dome spare furs, dry grass and wooden frames. Do you mind asking Yenna to put two of them together for me? I'll pass by to pick them up later with Vodra and Nushii."

"Tis no trouble. I needed to speak with him and Zurra as well to aid me in making a tool. We'll need it for your runes." The old woman said as she got to her feet with a huff. "Glad to have you two around. Tis a new age for all of us it seems. Hopefully it'll be a good experience for all."

Urla then did a small bowing head nod, to which both Vodra and Nushii replied in kind with a similar one.

"Our shack is the slightly smaller one on the back left. It should have a chair outside at the door. Make yourselves acquainted with the place, it is rather modest, but it works for me. I'll need to carry out my duties first." Michael said in a colder tone at the end, no joy, no anger or sadness, simply a factual statement.

The two Hay-yen understood the situation and they said their goodevenings as they went off.

As soon as he was alone, Michael sighed an exhale as he went to fill up a bowl with fish stew, setting it aside. His brown eyes then turned to look at Woh on his shoulder, a hand gently reaching and petting the crest of her head, right inbetween her two big and bubbly eyes.

'I can already feel it seeping through my skin.' He thought as he sat himself down and then he began lifting up his right arm's sleeve.

"Woh... I'll need a small favor from you." Michael said while continuing the petting of the tiny Amphoran.

"Hmmm? Sure. Whatcha need? Ribbit!" She said with a big dopey eyed expression.

Eventually after a bit of time spent with Woh, Michael began making his way over to Letra's cage, big bowl of fish stew steaming in his hands. At this point the sun was on the horizon once more, slightly descending, as the sky turned into a nice spectrum of orange and purple shades.

From inside the exterior cage Letra had already smelled his approach. She looked at the celing of her cell and taking a mix of mud and excrement she began trying to cover up her progress on her escape. Even with nubbed claws she still managed to claw away at the wood.

Once she was done hiding her potential escape plan, the lonesome Hay-yen sat down as she huffed. 'Those two idiots might have given up, but I won't. I've seen them fight that night, at least part of them, with enough numbers we can overwhelm them. I just need to get out of here. I'll have that furless bastard's head and all of his mud eater's throats.'

Letra curled up in the corner of the cage that faced the door, moving as little as possible as to not rattle her ankle and hand chains. She leaned back and peered at the foul critter that got her in this situation as he approached.

Michael got closer and closer, wiping his nose with the back of his right hand before wiping a bit of blood onto his pantleg. His breathing was slightly more intense than usual as if he had just finished running.

'Hah. Don't know what you've been up to, but the more exhausted you are, the more you'll lower your guard. Come on you bloody kin killer. I'll see that you get to feel what it is like to have a ripped throat.' Letra thought gleefully, a glee that only got harder to contain as Michael approached.

The human came to the cage and he peered through the bars. After gazing in a few moments and noticing the lack of movement, he exhaled with a labored relief. Taking out a key he then undid the lock and opened the door slowly.

"Just a bit closer..." Letra begged in her mind.

As if the Hay-yen's prayers were answered Michael leaned in and he was about to set down the bowl of food. At that moment Letra, without as much as a chackle or growl, she sprung from her position and pounced on top of Michael.

She had practiced this moment in her mind's eye so much, so many times. She knocked the furless daeman onto his back and using her wrist chains she pinned him down by the throat.

"See you in the Devourer's guts, you bastard!" She said with a loud laugh as she lunged her head forward to sink her teeth into his exposed and fleshy throat.

Michael was chocking slightly during the whole manuever, but he had enough strength to do the one thing he wanted to do.

As Letra sank her teeth, they didn't end up in Michael's neck, but instead she bit down tight on his right forearm. The canines broke flesh as a spurt of blood left the human's arm, accompanied by a pained roaring cry going from his throat.

"AGH, FUCK! HAH... Agh-" He said, as Letra's chains were choking him.

The human then made eye contact with Letra as she kept biting down on his forearm, more blood gushing down her chin.

At this point Letra noticed his bloodshot eye and nose dripping with blood. "Huh, bad day you chose to come and feed me. When you look half dead and exhausted from battle. Your luck runs out today. You are now at my mercy, cretin." She growled muffled as she licked at the blood in her maws with a sense of triumph.

Michael laid there silent as he tried to inhale shallowly, he seemed saddened, more than actually in pain. "I-... I'm sorry that you th- agh-... think that. I- ughk... I'm sorry it had gotten to this, but..."

"Trying to pluck at my heart strings on your death bed, you cowardly vermin?! It didn't work before, it won't work now." She said pressing the chains down harder. At the same time it almost seemed like the human was pressing his forearm deeper in her maws, blood constantly having to be swallowed by Letra. She didn't mind, the taste was fresh and she missed its smell.

"N-no... I'm just sorry t-haah...-hat you have to die by ghaaah-... yough-...hr own h-hand. I-... ACK- tried all I c-could whiff you... haah-..." Michael uttered as he then simply focused on simply managing his breath.

Letra looked at him confused, but the sounds of distant movement and talking, let her knoe that she needed to rush killing him. She began putting more and more pressure on his throat with the chain, but the more time passed, the weaker she felt.

Soon enough the Hay-yen could feel her heart beat faster and faster, her breath getting shallow. At this point she very quickly let go of Michael's forearm, now gasping for air. The Hay-yen's heart was beating so fast she could feel it through her bones and hear it in her ears.

Her eyes began shedding crimson tears as she started looking down at Michael. "WH- AAHCK- -HAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"

After he managed to wrestle Letra off of himself and after he got a few good gasps of air and a bloody cough out, Michael locked eyes with her.

"I-... I couldn't decide if I should kill you or not, s-so... I let you decide that for me." The young man said with a wide bloody smile. "I- thought I'd regret it, because I a-am just hopelessly optimistic t-that people can change." She said getting up to his knees.

Letra would now be gurggling on her own blood as her eyes now were blood shot and leaking like crazy.

"I guess you people here, HACK- AGH... aren't so different from mine back home. Regardless of h-how we look, how much we try t-to talk things out..." Michael said half mumbled as he now sat cross legged and simply looked at Letra as her whole body convulsed. "... we're all just beasts in the end. Sometimes this... is all we can do."

Michael didn't move an inch, didn't blink, didn't avert his gaze, nothing. He watched as Letra gurggled on her own blood, as her form shook, her jaw moving as if she's putting a silent curse on him for this. He watched until the light had left her bloody furious eyes and until her body gave its last twitches.

The young man then got up and he began walking towards the general direction of Urla's and Oinna's huts, his eyes still focused and alert.

One last thought ran through his mind at this point, a memory from his not too far gone teenage years. A memory of one of the few times his father was an actual father and not a drunk, one advice that he now understood better than ever as it came to his mind clearly.

"Weakness is the lack of a choice between being good or bad. How can you choose to be truly kind, if you don't have the strength to be a monster?"