Azhul was shoved into the shed, the windows with their vertical shutters were shut, the whole inside basking in a semi light-up darkness. The large sow held onto her snout as she stepped forward with heavy steps.

'If I die here Gharna, I will make sure you aren't having any chances at gettin' a spouse for the rest of me afterlife.' Azhul thought with a growl.

Running out of breath she then reached one of the closed windows and slammed the shutter upwards and outwards opening it.

" Deep gasped oinking inhale BROOD MOTHER I live!" Azhul yelled out coughing afterwards.

As she leaned her head out the window she began looking inside. With light shining in, she saw Michael laying in the hay and wood bed, furs acting as bed sheets and a wool blanket over him. Hair was slightly grown on his face where there was none before, three days ago, but it looked short and stubby and he seemed to not have anything dressing his upper body. The backpack of an unusual make he carried shoved against the bed's frame, a pot half full with water, next to that, a ladle inside it.

"Michael? Oi. Michael?" Azhul said still leaning out the window.

The human groaned and he reached to the bed post grasping the medallion handed to him by Urla. He wouldn't even put it on, just hold it.

"Say again? I couldn't understand you..." he mumbled.

"It has been 3 days since ye came here. Urla for some reason might be alright with you just being in our shed, but I am not. She thinks of you as a guest, tha me you are a vagabond we took in. Come on. Time to earn your keep." Azhul said about to approach him, but she quickly leaned back. "But! First we're going to the river. You... smell. Don't know what is doing it, but it is worse than a swine during rutting season."

The human sighed as he stood up and then sat up, his upper body bare, covered in hair around his belly and growing upwards a bit thinner. His body dripped with sweat from keeping under the wool blanket.

"Why are you melting?!" Azhul said after a solid thirty seconds of staring.

"I am not... I am sweating... i ugh... our people let out water from our body when we get hot, so we cool ourselves off, but we need to drink water to keep doing it." Michael said trying his best to oversimplify human biology.

"What?! That is how you managed to outlast Gharna in your fight with her?!"

"I guess? Dunno. You don't sweat?"

"No! No we don't! That is... were you made by gods of war. You are made to survive heat, you are resilient to live only on water with no food and y-"

"I wasn't made by gods of war." He blatantly interrupted as he began putting some of his things in his mountain backpack, after pulling out a pair of slippers to slide into. The human then tied the laces of his boots together and hanged them down one of his shoulders.

"You say that, but your belly, back and sides are covered in battle scars." Azhul said feeling proud she noticed through his clear lie, still hoping he was a battle ready monster.

"They aren't. We call them stretch marks, when I was younger I used to eat when I felt bad feelings, got a big gut cause of it. And I ate a lot. For some years now I have been working on getting rid of the extra weight, but the scars remain." He added as he stepped towards the door and then outside, almost bumping into Gharna.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Azhul stood there a bit silent feeling wierd about the actual reality Michael explained. Eating when you felt bad didn't make much sense to her. She then followed out the door, stopping next to Gharna.

"So. He is out. I am guessing it went well?" She asked as saw Azhul.

"I think? Told him he's gotta earn his keep, which seems to have gotten him moving, so at least we know he is willin' to not leech off of us. I even got stern with him and I thought he would at least impose himself physically at least, but... he didn't."

"I would say he isn't on par with you on strength nor speed, but I feel if you had your guard down, he could surprise you." The slightly shorter sow added as she watched Michael step towards the gate of the village, while putting his amulet on.

"Does he know where the river is?" Azhul asked watching him walk away as well.

"I didn't tell him before." Gharna pitched in.

"Aye... me neither. I think we should go with him." Azhul added as she began walking with Gharna trotting in tow.

++++

'Christ, this sun is killing me.' Michael said as he stumble walked towards the town gate in his sleeping pants and a pair of old black rubber flippers.

'Well... I ain't got much with me, cause we were supposed to camp over night near the cave, but I guess it will do for now. Thank God for having two spare t-shirts and a a few pairs of underwear and socks on me. But... sigh... guess they will wear out eventually.'

As he went over a mental list of his current supplies, which included his phone, drawing tablet and a multi port solar charger, among other things, his eyes focused once he realized the gate was closed.

"L-looking to leave?" A voice rang out from the side, who proved to be Rok's, as Michael turned his head to see him, a bit taken aback.

"I... Azhul said I had to work, but she said I needed a trip to the river to... clean up."

"Yes. Yes he does. I was in his shack and apparently he drips water out of his body, which, I am no scholar, but I presume doesn't help the smell." Azhul said from behind as she and Gharna caught up.

"Alright. I'll... get the gate open for ya." Rok said as he began to untie the ropes holding the wooden bar of the gate to the frame of it.

Michael seemed to blankly stare at Rok, with a rather intense gaze, which got Azhul and Gharna, worried a second.

Once the gate was open and Rok stepped to the side pulling on the large wood door, Michael coughed as he looked at the forest outwards and then back at the guard.

"Hey. Uhm... I am sorry for... hitting you... I just... I... sigh... wasn't feeling great and I was panicking so... although I don't appreciate that you stepped on me. And I am not sorry for that first punch, I am sorry for hitting you further."

Rok, looked surprised at the pink skinned furless human, with his maw hanging slightly agape, as he found himself at a loss of words. "I... I was lookin' for truffles at that point... When Yenna told us, something was in the cave and that Gharna was there, I thought I was going to finally get a serious fight with something. I was... excited about that. Then I saw you like a little thing and I got... frustrated. And then I felt severe regret." Rok said with an awkward snorted laugh.

Michael's eyes light up a bit as he let out one such chuckle of his own. "S-still haha hah... I did feel bad about it."

"A-ah... don't. Oinna had her druid training put to good use. No lastin' harm done." Rok said with a wave of his three fingered hand. "If anything, I learned something. Always expect a crotch hit."

"I learned that lesson too a while back when I used to learn to fight. I'll tell you about it, if you want later." Michael said as he finally felt a rock being lifted off of his heart, if only a small one.

"I would like to hear about it, if it ends up helping me fight like that." Rok added, before the two then exchanged some mutual nods and Michael walked out, followed by Azhul and Gharna.

"Did they just... get along? After only just three days ago, one of them feared the other?" Gharna asked looking at Azhul.

"Den sister... He is both brutal, yet merciful. He fights to the death and not for glory, just for living. He is willing to spare an enemy and cry for them when their mother asks for him to spare them. He leaks water out of his body. He can live without eating three days. He is... chaotic. At this point, I am just wondering what else he can do." Azhul said starting to count on 5 out of her 6 fingers.

"A morbid kind of curiosity..." Gharna added as the two then silently agreed to stop hanging back and to actually to lead Michael to the river instead of letting him wonder aimlessly forward.