Fendros slowed, blew out of his nose, and nodded. "That's reasonable," he conceded. "Let's do that." He looked up at Meesei. "We'll catch with you later, then. No use putting this off."
Rhazii lowered his brow. "I thought you said you were on good terms with uncle, aunt, and grandma?"
"I did," Fendros said quickly. "I'm just getting irrational worries. I'll live."
Turning around, Fendros, Ahnasha, and Rhazii separated from Meesei and walked along a road towards the Avarul vineyard.
The three of them were relatively wordless for most of the way. Rhazii took on the anxieties of his parents, even without fully understanding the context of the situation.
He finally spoke up after several walking minutes of failing to work it all out. "So...I don't know how I should be acting, exactly. I don't want to make everyone upset like I did back at the feast." He glanced over at Ahnasha and Fendros with his ears back. "Is there anything I should or shouldn't do? Is there some kind of manners I have to follow that aren't the same as back home?"
The scene around Lorag settled into a peaceful one. Excepting the tiny chirping birds and soft wind making the leaves wave, all around him was still and quiet. There was no smoke rising from the cabin's chimney. There was no light or movement detectable from the windows, though the daylight made seeing as much difficult. Even the traces of Harriet's scent were dim, as if she had left perhaps a day or two ago. As were the hints of another Orc female. Probably Narsi, the kid.
For a short while, the situation seemed just to be bad timing. Harriet and Narsi might have returned to the city since the last reports. They might be out on some other activity for the day, or several days, or just that hour.
The suspicions did not have much time to fester before Lorag's right ear prickled with an errant sound. The soft padding of heavy feet on grass bounced out from the woods. There were no signs of movement from its direction. Not immediately. The sound of the wind and leaves felt muted.
A dark shape slinked along behind thick foliage. Only by listening as keenly as Lorag could was he able to hear the soft steps propelling it. When the shape reached the road behind him, it did not remain in hiding for long. It knew Lorag was aware of it. It stepped out onto the road with careful curiosity; a small werewolf, black-furred, spry, and youthful. Her eyes were fixed on Lorag's as it took another, slow, circling step, keeping her distance. Much like Lorag, she was not aggressive, but she was tense and sprung. She looked ready to run or lash out at a moment's notice.
Her ears lifted halfway up. She lifted her nose to sniff the air in front of her.
Janius returned Kaleeth's smile. He was not sure whether his words helped or whether Kaleeth just needed an outlet to think, but he was relieved to see her cheering up.
"Then, let's use a truth," Janius responded with a grin. "That's a good answer. They might be frustrated with you but they cannot fault you more than they can fault themselves." He took Kaleeth's upper arms and craned his head down to look her in the eyes with a raised brow. "But, Kaleeth, by the Divines, if you worry so hard about such things, you're allowed to talk to me. I don't mind if you need a moment to yourself every now and then but you had me worried for a while."
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