The truck pulled up outside the house, and Kyto stood looking out of the lounge window as Crystal and Tabs climbed out. He then walked to the front door and opened it as they came in carrying provisions.
"We have everything for meals for the next few days." Tabs said as she carried the small crate and placed it on the kitchen counter. Crystal followed with another box and put it alongside it. The containers were full of fresh provisions, herbs that Tabs had foraged, vegetables, and a couple of loaves of bread.
"I can make a stew tonight if you wish?" Kyto asked.
"That would go down well. I am going for a bath," Crystal said.
"I will go and light the heater for you," Kyto offered, smiling at her.
"Thanks," Crystal replied as she headed upstairs.
Once Kyto had lit the burner, he began preparing the stew. He was the best cook in the group and usually completed kitchen duty. The cubs had come in to see Tabs, and she currently had all three of them curled up on her in the lounge.
"The cubs smell lovely," Tabs called through to Kyto in the kitchen.
"Brandon bathed them," he replied, laughing.
"What?" she said.
"The evil man tried to drown us," Sneezy said.
"I do not think Sneezy and Pouncer appreciated it," Kyto replied.
"Aww. But you are so soft and fluffy now," she said, stroking Pouncer and Rosie with a hand on each. Sneezy forced his head under her hand, also wanting attention.
The cubs seemed to drift towards Tabs and Elizabeth when they were home and would sit being fussed for hours if they had their way.
"Where is Brandon?" Tabs asked.
"He went to lie down. I still think everything is a little strange for him." Kyto replied.
"Understandable. I'm not sure how I would have reacted to these monsters and Tiddles," she said, ruffling the cubs' heads and smiling at them.
The cubs complained about being called monsters but knew Tabs was not being serious, soon returning to their deep rumbling purrs. "I wish we could bottle their purrs like your mana. I always feel sleepy when they start," she said, yawning.
Kyto walked in from the kitchen, sitting down. "Stew is cooking in an hour or so."
"Do you know if Sniffer and Elizabeth will be back soon? I have done enough for them?" he said.
"Yeah, they shouldn't be too long. Elizabeth was trying to get Sniffer to agree to buy her a new dress she had seen," Tabs said.
"A dress? When will she ever wear that?" Kyto asked.
"She may never wear it, but she likes it, which is what matters. If only you knew how to treat a woman properly." Tabs said.
Kyto rolled his eyes at her comment. "I am sure I have provided everything I can for you."
"And now you are a kept man while I work my fingers to the bone daily. You swan around playing tag with the cubs," she replied.
"We do not play tag. I am training," he replied, pulling a sad face.
At that moment, they heard a squeal from upstairs and then the sound of something hitting the floor. They both quickly stood and went upstairs. Crystal was standing in the bathroom doorway holding a towel around herself, her hair wet from the bath she had just climbed from, and Brandon sat holding a very red, swollen and bloody nose.
"I think you broke it," he said, muffled through his hand.
"You should not have scared me then," Crystal replied.
"I only said hello," Brandon replied from where he sat.
"I am sure if you were walking out of a bathroom in a towel and a strange-looking man suddenly appeared beside you saying hello, you would do the same," Crystal said.
"Strange you met me yesterday," he replied.
"Well, you look nothing like yesterday, so do not blame me for protecting myself," Crystal replied as she stalked to her room and closed the door.
"She has one hell of a punch on her," Brandon said, standing slowly, trying to catch the blood dripping from his nose.
"Here," Kyto said, focusing on him. Within moments, his nose crunched and straightened, the blood stopping.
"Thanks," he replied, slowly flexing his nose with his fingers. He walked into the bathroom and appeared a moment later, having wiped his face and washed his hands of the blood.
Tabs stared at him and his new appearance. "Kyto’s, I assume?"
"Yes. Sorry, he gave them to me to wear," he replied.
Tabs stroked Kyto on his arm and smiled at him before going and knocking on her sister’s door.
Kyto walked back downstairs, trying not to laugh at what he had just witnessed. Brandon could not help but keep checking his nose for damage.
"It is fine, I promise," Kyto said.
"I know, but I cannot get used to this healing stuff," he said. "Is she always that violent?" Brandon asked.
"You have not seen half of it," Kyto responded.
"So, she is always violent?" Brandon asked, a little concerned.
"Only when she is annoyed or angry or when someone makes her jump. Which is a feat on its own. I have never seen her jump before." Kyto replied, laughing.
"Well, remind me not to do it again. That bloody hurt," he replied.
Tabs and Crystal came down the stairs a while after. Crystal was now dressed in casual evening clothes, and her beauty took the breath away from Brandon. Her hair was loosely plaited and fell down her back. She wore a short top and bottoms, showing her shapely and firm stomach. He could not take his eyes off her, having only seen her briefly the previous evening and then dressed in her work clothes that day.
"How long until the stew is ready?" Tabs asked.
"Half an hour," Kyto replied.
"Ok, my turn for a bath then," she said, heading back upstairs.
Crystal sat in the armchair across from Brandon, and Rosie walked over, jumping onto her lap. Out of the three cubs, only Rosie seemed to gravitate to Crystal. The boys were wary of her. Kyto knew that the boys found her scary as she had told them off before for causing chaos in the house.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Crystal asked Brandon.
"I have no idea. Kyto asked me the same question earlier, but I do not know. I also do not know why you have all helped me," he said.
Crystal looked at him for a long moment before replying. "It seems to be that we attract the strays."
"Strays! I am not a stray."
"You are really. It is not as though you had anything keeping you in town now, is it," she replied bluntly.
"Well, I have...." he trailed off.
"See. So, what do you want to do?" she asked.
Brandon sat, considering his reply. "I really would like to be able to open my own Tanners and continue what my dad used to do. I have always loved the trade and crafting leather."
"So why don't you then?"
"I have already had this conversation with Kyto. He has mentioned that Tiddles gets skins, or you get skins from Tiddles kills, and I may be able to use some of them."
"Sounds fair. We do not need them all, and Lars is too busy with his guard duties. It is also not difficult to replace them when you have a beast."
"He is huge, you know. I have seen beasts before, but no way near his size."
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"He is a little, and I do not think he has even finished growing yet."
"Really? I never knew they grew so large."
"Food is ready," Kyto called from the kitchen.
"Coming," Crystal replied.
They walked through to eat, and Tabs joined them soon after they had sat down. They were just finishing when Sniffer and Elizabeth arrived home.
"Did you get it?" Tabs asked, grinning at Elizabeth.
"What do you think?" she said, beaming and walking straight upstairs with a package.
Sniffer walked in, banging his boots off, and entered the kitchen. "Food is ready," Kyto said, grabbing two more bowls.
"Thanks. Once I have eaten, I need to head out," he said.
"Why? It is dark out." Tabs asked.
"I have been asked if I can track down the source of the Geblex," he replied.
"Ah. I forgot TJ was going to speak to you." Kyto replied.
"Yeah, I will head out in a while once I have eaten and Tiddles returns. I guess he is out getting dinner for the cubs." Sniffer said.
"Yeah, but he left ages ago. I am surprised he is not back yet, to be honest." Kyto said.
Elizabeth entered the kitchen. She wore a stunning knee-length dress that accentuated her figure, and Kyto and Brandon's jaws dropped when they saw her wearing it.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"That is beautiful," Tabs replied, placing her hand under Kyto's jaw and closing his mouth for him. "You to Brandon," she said.
Brandon suddenly realised he was gawping at her and looked away, embarrassed.
"You look lovely, Elizabeth," Sniffer said.
She walked over and kissed him on the cheek before sitting down. "Thank you," she said, grinning at him.
He grumbled some inaudible reply, the only word truck being understood.
Tiddles arrived back at the house a while after they had finished eating and, after dropping the kill off, came through to find Kyto cleaning up in the kitchen, the rest having gone through to the lounge.
"Something is wrong out there," he said to him.
"What?" Kyto asked.
"I had to travel several miles west before I came upon anything. It is as though all the Wild Ones have left the area," he replied.
"That is strange."
"I am sure it is due to the Geblex. I picked up various scent trails while travelling, but no signs when I followed them."
"Well, after recent events, I am not surprised."
Sniffer walked through, hearing Tiddles growling.
"Hey, boy. We have a job," he said.
Tiddles tilted his head.
"They want us to track the source of the Geblex. TJ came and spoke to me earlier." Sniffer continued, knowing that Tiddles was listening.
"That is not going to be easy," Tiddles said.
"Not easy, apparently," Kyto said.
"Why?" Sniffer asked.
"Trails everywhere," Tiddles said.
"Trails all over." Kyto translated.
"Shit. When we left town, it was bad enough back there as it was due to the number of people who had moved inside throughout the day, so the sooner we can try and find out where these things are coming from and deal with them, the better."
"I will come with you." Kyto offered.
"Sure." Sniffer smiled, "Easier to communicate that way."
They had been out for a few hours, and it was eerily quiet. Typically, around the township at night, you would hear the Wild Ones in the surrounding woodlands, but there was nothing. It was as though a blanket had been drawn over the land. They had been heading further north away from the township initially but moved to the west as Tiddles picked up a more pungent scent to follow.
"There seems to have been a group here that then appears to have spilt up," Tiddles said.
"Split up?" Kyto asked.
"Yeah, the main trail comes from over there, but at this point, they have split into smaller groups as they have approached town," he said.
"Any ideas how many?" he asked.
"The scents are all mixed and not the easiest to pick up amongst the dampness in the air as well from the rains, but I would guess there are quite a few," he replied.
Kyto relayed the details to Sniffer. "So should we initially follow the trails towards town or the main scent away from where they came?" Kyto asked.
"Not sure, if multiple groups are heading towards the township, maybe we should head that way first and try to track some of them down before they cause any incidents," Sniffer said.
"Probably best," Kyto said.
Tiddles was following one of the trails when he stopped. Kyto nearly walked into the back of him. He stopped so suddenly. "What is it?" Kyto asked.
"Shhh," Tiddles replied.
Kyto put his finger to his lips, turning to Sniffer. The trail had led them to the Western area of the district around New Talisia, close to where they had been to save Lars previously. They had been walking through a wooded area when Tiddles had stopped. He slowly moved forward, staying within the treeline until he could see ahead. Kyto and Sniffer followed. Peering out from the tree line. They could all see why Tiddles had stopped so suddenly.
A group of the Geblex was moving through the area, and there must have been fifty of them in a group. They crept from building to building as they approached the western side of the town. They were all armed with spears or clubs and seemed intent on reaching the township. The moon was high in the sky, but the frequent cloud cover made it difficult to see them clearly, and only as it broke through could a quantity of them be seen.
"Fuck that is a lot of them," Sniffer whispered.
"Yeah. We cannot take on that many alone." Kyto replied.
"Wait here," Tiddles said as he disappeared, triggering his stealth skill.
As he approached the group's rear, Kyto followed his movement, seeing his dot on his display. One of the creatures was lagging the others, and Kyto watched as Tiddles took the opportunity to pick him off, silently and swiftly attacking. The leading group ahead did not notice their fallen comrade and continued forward.
Tiddles returned to them. "Fuck they taste horrible," he whispered when he returned.
"There is no way you can pick them all off like that," Kyto said.
"Nope, not a chance," Tiddles replied.
"Looking at the sky, there is at least another six hours of darkness," Sniffer said.
"Yeah, which means another six hours of these things being able to travel around the area," Kyto added.
"There is a vehicle coming," Tiddles said, his hearing picking up the distant sound before the others.
They all could now hear the truck as it came closer. The group of Geblex had all stopped moving and were lined up by a partially demolished building. The truck moved from the north, heading south along the road that separated the inner and outer district areas. It was one of the main routes, and if they followed it further south, it would eventually take them east towards the northeastern fuel depot at an area called Cleveland. As the truck neared the Geblex, they began to move, spreading out in a line crouched by the roadside.
"They are going to ambush the truck," Kyto said panicked.
"There is not much we can do about it, not against that many," Sniffer replied.
"I can," Tiddles said, activating his skill again and quickly moving towards the Geblex.
"What the hell is he doing?" Sniffer asked, watching him disappear.
"I have no idea. He is heading their way, though," Kyto replied as he followed Tiddles's movements.
The truck continued towards where the Geblex lay, only fifty metres away now, as they waited for the opportune moment to strike. The passengers in the truck had no idea what lay ahead of them when Tiddles suddenly howled, bounding towards them and making himself fully visible. He charged straight towards the surprised Geblex, not expecting anything to approach them from behind, making the area turn into a chaos of croaks. The truck slammed its brakes on as its lights caught the sight of a beast standing in the road now after he had leapt over where they had been hiding. Tiddles howled again as the Geblex regained composure, and the first spear flew towards Tiddles.
"Shit," Kyto said as he stood to move towards him.
"Wait." Sniffer hissed, grabbing his arm and pulling him down.
Tiddles leapt sideways, easily dodging the spear, and then began to run towards the south down the road. Some of the Geblex began to swarm after him, charging onto the road and giving chase. There were loud croaks, and the group nearer the truck turned towards it, obviously being ordered by one of them. Whoever was in the truck had just seen the massive beast form of Tiddles on the road, and now the Geblex could be seen as clear as day in the vehicle’s headlights. Sniffer heard the grinding sound of the truck being placed into reverse, and it began to move back from the approaching creatures.
He watched as one of the guards lent out of the window of the truck and began to open fire on the Geblex, cutting a couple of them down with his inaccurate fire as he was jostled inside the moving vehicle. The truck eventually started to turn as Geblex began throwing spears at it, trying to swarm it. The truck hit the ditch at the side of the road and seemed to get stuck for a moment, and Sniffer's heart caught in his throat as he wished it to get moving. The truck was thrown back into first gear and gripped the slippery surface enough to jump back out of the ditch and grip back on the surface as it began accelerating away from the closing Geblex.
Kyto had been watching Tiddles and his red dot flash southwards. It had not taken him long to disappear at the speed he could move, outrunning any pursuers easily.
"We better move," Sniffer said, grabbing Kyto and pulling him back.
Kyto did not need telling twice, and the pair of them crouched and hurried back through the trees, heading back where they had come from and away from the Geblex group.
They kept moving for ten minutes before stopping further west and away from town. They had not come out this far originally, and again, and the area was in absolute silence with none of the usual sounds of Wild Ones. Kyto saw Tiddles's dot suddenly flash on his display.
"Tiddles is coming," he said.
He watched as his dot swiftly crossed the ground between them, heading from the south. It took what seemed like only seconds before he appeared by them.
"Well, that was fun," Tiddles said as he arrived back at them.
"Not sure I would say I class it as fun," Kyto replied.
"It worked, did it not?" Tiddles asked.
"Yes, it worked, but really taunting fifty monsters. What if more had thrown spears at you? You may not have dodged all of them." Kyto said.
"Duh. That is what you are for to heal me," he said, grinning at Kyto.
"Fucking idiot thinks it was good fun, and apparently, I could have miraculously healed him if anything had gone wrong." Kyto reiterated to Sniffer.
"That patrol will report back to town, and we should also. Fifty Geblex is not a small number even for guards to take out with weapons." Sniffer said.
"There are a lot more than fifty," Tiddles said.
"How many then?" Kyto asked.
"Well, when I ran south, I came upon three more groups all approaching the town from different directions, and that group we saw was the smallest by far. I did not hang around to see how many exactly, but I would guess one of the groups was a few hundred," he replied.
"What the fuck! Tiddles says he saw more groups much bigger than the one we saw, all heading towards town from different directions." Kyto stated.
"Shit. We better get to town as soon as possible and let them know." Sniffer stated.
"Well, the quickest way is going back by the group we just left," Kyto said.
"We can't go that way," Sniffer said.
"How can we get back before they get there," Kyto said.
"I don't think we can. Whatever happens tonight will happen whether we get back or not," Tiddles said.
Sniffer and Kyto looked at each other, wondering what the hell they could do.
"Write a note," Tiddles said.
"What do you mean?" Kyto asked.
"Write a note. I will take it to town," Tiddles said.
"I do not have anything to write on," Kyto replied.
"What did Tiddles say?" Sniffer asked.
"He said to write a note to inform the town, and he would run it back."
"That is probably the best chance we have," Sniffer said.
"I have nothing to write with," Kyto said.
"I do," Sniffer replied, removing the small backpack he always carried when tracking. He dug inside the top, withdrew a small pad and a pencil, and handed it to Kyto.
"My writing is not the neatest," he stated bluntly.
Kyto opened the book until he found a blank page, quickly scribbling a message. "How the hell are you going to get this to town, though, and to someone who will even consider it," he asked as he tore the page from the book.
"Leave that to me," Tiddles said.
"Here," Sniffer said as he took out a piece of rope from his pack and wrapped it around Tiddles's leg. He then cut it to size, tied it off, and then placed the note from Kyto inside a knot before tightening it. Tiddles looked at his foreleg and flexed his muscles. The rope strained but did not snap or stop his movement.
"OK. Everything's set. I'll see you back at home," Tiddles said as he turned to town.
"He said he would see us back at home," Kyto said with concern. He handed Sniffer his notebook back and pencil.
"Be careful, boy," Sniffer said as he bounded away.