She did it.

After the past week of agonizing over it, of trying desperately to cut her contact with Mewl as much as possible, of desperately wanting to make her crush disappear, Ss’Vesh gave up and said it.

Now all she can do is to wait for the other woman's response. Worst she could say is no, right?

“What?” Mewl says, her face twitching in confusion. Ss’Vesh flinches. Okay, maybe not.

Ss’Vesh tries approaching Mewl, starting to explain, but Mewl hisses at her and takes a step back, keeping them at the same distance from each other. “Whatever you’re gonna say, save it.” Mewl says, “I don’t have time to unravel that right now. Don’t follow me again.”

And with that, she’s off, darting across the treetops again.

Leaving Ss’Vesh alone with her feelings.

Hunched, dejected and rattling to herself, Ss’Vesh slowly goes back to the clearing where she left the twins, all the while wondering what she did wrong.

Upon arriving at the clearing, Sd’Dera immediately rushed her, asking what’s wrong. Ss’Vesh starts telling her about how she followed Mewl’s scent, how she watched the pantherus kill a treehaunt by herself, and how she noticed the dreadmaw watching them.

How she had pushed Mewl out of the way of the dreadmaw’s charge, and the confrontation afterwards.

By the end of her recounting, Ss’Vesh is sobbing into Sd’Deras shoulders.

“I’m sorry that’s what happened Ss’Vesh,” Sd’Dera says, holding the bigger pythoniade close to her. “But I have to say, we saw this coming.”

Startled, Ss’Vesh pushes herself away from Sd’Dera, who has an apologetic look on her face.

“Look, you got stuck in your own head too much.” By Sd’Dera’s side, her twin nods her head, showing her agreement. “Let us show you how. Spar with us?”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

At Ss’Vesh’s questioning look, Sd’Dera adds, “trust us, it will make sense soon.”

Hesitantly, Ss’Vesh steels herself and gets in position. Sd’Dera gets in position in front of her, while Sd’Aira starts slowly moving to her left. Ss’Vesh wonders what exactly they plan to do here, even as a team they have never beaten her in a spar before.

As soon as Sd’Aira is far away enough from her twin that she can’t easily come to her rescue, Ss’Vesh dashes forward, trying to isolate the twins from each other. She is surprised when Sd’Dera makes no move to back away from her, instead moving to meet her charge halfway. Yet, at the last possible moment, Sd’Dera banks hard to Ss’Vesh’s right, being able to turn herself much easier than the bigger pythoniade.

Growling, Ss’Vesh tries to follow the turn, only for a sharp pull on her left arm to bring her out of balance. As she tries to correct herself, Sd’Dera follows up her sister’s attack with a lunge of her own, wrapping herself around Ss’Vesh’s right arm and bringing her fangs to Ss’Vesh’s neck.

“I yield.” Ss’Vesh says.

The twins disengage, and once again form up in front of Ss’Vesh. “When did you two learn how to move like that?” Ss’Vesh asks.

“That's our point. You’ve been so stuck in that head of yours, that you stopped paying attention. You stopped doing your job as our squad leader. If you couldn’t even pay attention to people you’ve known for half of your life, how could you hope to integrate a new arrival into our team? Especially one that isn’t even a pythoniade?”

“That’s not true I haven’t—”

“When was the last time you told Sj’Orus to take his medicine?” Ss’Vesh recoils as if Sd’Aira had physically struck her. “When did you last take St’Eris to sunbathe in the mountaintop? Why did it take us going to Sv’Irey for you to let Melaine go hunting?”

Ss’Vesh hisses loudly. Sd’Dera softens her features, and adds, “we get it. We understand that this is the first time you’ve had a chance to explore your sexuality, and that it’s overwhelming to you. But you can’t let it control you. We still need our captain. And Melaine needs you to be better than you have been. Maybe more than the rest of us combined.”

Ss’Vesh deflates, all the tension from within her just going away as she crumbles into herself. “I really screwed up huh?” The twins wrap her in a hug, as Sd’Dera says, “yeah you have. But you can make it better, one step at a time. Now let’s wait for Melaine to come back, so that you can take that first step, okay?”

It takes almost until sunset for Mewl to come back, and Ss’Vesh almost goes after her twice during that time. Only the twins' stares keep her from breaking her unspoken promise to Mewl.

It’s a relief to her then, when the pantherus returns the treehaunt’s carcass tied around her back with vines, while she carries the dreadmaw’s carcass with her arms. With a grunt, Mewl drops her burdens on the clearing.

Ss’Vesh is in awe. Never before has she seen a more beautiful sight than Mewl standing there, panting heavily, her violet eyes staring almost through Ss’Vesh’s soul, covered in blood, both of her prey and herself.

Wait.

Mewl is bleeding.

Without even really thinking about it, Ss’Vesh dashes to Mewl, and starts inspecting every inch of her skin, looking for her wounds. “W-what are you doing?” The pantherus asks, too tired to put more than a token resistance. “I’m looking for your wounds. Sd’Dera, Sd’Aira, do you two have jilp sap on you?” Ss’Vesh asks, gently taking Mewl off her feet.

“I-I don’t need you to take care of me like this” Mewl complains, as the three pythoniades start treating the scratches she got while fighting the dreadmaw.

“We know. But we are going to do so anyway, because you’re one of us now. We take care of each other, even when we don’t think we need anyone’s help. You’re not alone anymore Melaine.” Ss’Vesh says, softly. “Now rest. Let your team take it from here.”

Unable to resist, Mewl closes her eyes, and lets her exhaustion take her to sleep.