A King's Legacy Ch. 14

Rust heard the canine mumble his sulking, conceding reply before the two finally stepped away from the windowsill, allowing the fox to slip away unnoticed. Rust shared the Husky's sentiment. The topic just gave him the creeps for some reason, but he needed to get some rest. He had a long day ahead of himself in the forge with Tan, and he wasn't planning on being late for his first full day.

When Oust had finally woken up, the sun was already bearing down on him in the streets where the bear had left him. Orcs and beasts alike had simply moved around him up to that point. The Tiger's head was pounding, and felt like it was going to split in half. His mouth was dry from sweating through the first half of the morning. He was sore, hungover, and absolutely enthralled as his hazy memories of the night before came back to him. The tiger sat up with a start, and was met with the soft eyes of the larger, white, fluffy canine, Milky staring down at him. The beast had something in their right hand, and extended it down to the tiger, offering him a gift.

Oust realized a moment later it was simply a tiny, white flower with an orange center. He had no need for such trivial things. The tiger gave the canine a scowl, and smacked his hand aside, knocking away the flower as he stood to rise, despite the pounding in his head. Milky only whined a bit, rubbing at their injured hand lightly. The tiger hadn't cared that there were other onlookers.

Aster felt himself angered by the tiger's action towards such a gentle creature, and felt bad the mountain of fluff had even tried extending his kindness to the cat. The boy looked on, watching as the tiger stood and began walking away a bit further down the street, holding his head. The human was surprised by what the fluffy dog did next.

Milky, being the type of beast they were, figured they should just try again. Everyone liked flowers, after all. So the canine gently reached down to cradle the bloom, lightly brushing the dirt from it with a tender and careful claw, and stood to follow the tiger, running after Oust in excitement. When they caught up with him, the fluffy beast lightly tapped the tiger's shoulder, forcing the scowling tiger to turn around once more. The cat simply glared up at the canine, who only panted happily in response before extending their hand with the flower, once more offering a token of friendship to the warrior. The beast's bushy tail happily swishing back and forth as they did.

Oust's temper flared with his nostrils, he was NOT in the mood for such trivialities. The beast was still unreasonably ashamed and angry with himself after the night before, and his rough awakening hadn't helped his sour spirits. The tiger snapped, his anger getting the better of him yet again, and he shoved the larger beast roughly, making the kind canine fall backwards with a crash... Directly on top of the tiny little lute the beast enjoyed strumming on that had been hanging over its back by a strap.

Milky's eyes shot wide, and the fumbling beast quickly rolled over on its knees to inspect the instrument. With shaky, large hands, the simple beast scooped up the shattered remains of their favorite toy, gently cradling the broken lute. The beast used one hand to feebly try and piece it back together as best as they could manage, but the strings were mostly broken, and the wood was far beyond repair. With the realization the instrument was ruined, the large, gentle dog began trembling violently, having a meltdown. With a heavy howl of sorrow, Milky began sobbing heavily as if they were no more than a toddler. Oust only turned his head to the sight in guilt, and continued on his way, leaving the simple and weak beast to it's pathetic wallowing. The tiger made it two paces before a large, golden shield appeared in front of him, barring his exit. The cat snarled as it turned once more, where it was met with another scowling face fast approaching him.

Aster didn't know what came over him in that moment, but as surely as the fluffy, gentle canine was crying, tears of anger fell from his reddening cheeks. He threw a shield up to halt the tiger's escape, and began marching over in his frustration, calling out just as the tiger had turned to face him.

"OUST! APOLOGIZE, NOW!"

The tiger snarled loudly, not in the mood to deal with the mongrel today of all days. He spat his answer back.

"FUCK YOU, RUNT!" Aster didn't slow, shouting back as he closed the distance.

"Say what you want about me, but that was wrong, and you know it! Apologize to them! NOW!"

The tiger started to take his own steps in his turmoil, coming to stand just a few feet away from the human before he answered.

"No, I have no remorse for the stupid beast, it should have just left me alone! Just as you would, if you have any sense!"

Aster felt himself grow even more pissed at Milky being called stupid. He felt a bit silly at crying while he was shouting so angrily.

"They were just trying to be kind to you! If you weren't such an insufferable prick, they wouldn't be the only one still trying to cheer you up... The only one that cared if you passed out drunk in the dirt! If you would just stop being such an asshole for a single second and actually think about someone besides yourse-"

Oust cut the human off, slashing quickly through the air at him, Aster jumped back, barely moving in time. The human shouted at the beast again, lowering his stance a bit and bringing up a shield on his right arm.

"See? That's your damn problem, right there! You lash out in anger at anyone who actually tries to help your stubborn ass be slightly less shitty or miserable! Fine! Let's settle this, since violence and force are all you seem to know... But you are going to apologize to them..."

Oust didn't move, surprising the boy who had already braced for another series of attacks from the cat. The tiger only stared at the smaller human for a short time, thinking back to his "conversation," with Sir Corper the previous night, before he simply closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath in, and exhaled.

Oust ignored Aster completely, and walked right passed the human. The powerful tiger made his way back to the still sobbing Milky, and crouched down on his haunches. The warrior gently reached down, and snagged a hold of the now crushed, white and orange flower, bringing it back up and offering it to the ball of fluff, surprising everyone watching.

Milky sniffled a few more times, and gently reached two trembling claws forward to take the flower. The simple beast looked closely at the trampled flora, and smiled happily then, it's large tongue hanging out at the motion and their tail wagging in joy. Oust bowed his head slightly, showing the canine respect as he spoke in a tone Aster had never heard him use before. It was kind of beautiful how soft it was.

"I am sorry. I will fix this before I leave this place... Thank you for the gift."

The tiger stood, and began walking back the way he had came. As he passed the human, who readied his shield again, the beast spoke two words to him without ever turning to face the boy, his voice much quieter then so only Aster would hear, stunning him more than the sudden apology to the canine had.

"Thank you."

Oust walked on solemnly, knowing what he needed to do.

Aster only watched him depart in visible confusion. He didn't know what had happened, but the boy quite clearly just witnessed a miracle. His stunned state was interrupted by a sultry voice behind him.

"Thank you, indeed, human, for standing up for Milky. Allow me to repay your kindness."

Aster turned to see who was speaking, and was met by the peacock, Madame Mist. She had appeared seemingly from nowhere, as she certainly wasn't behind him before. Aster nodded at the avian.

"Don't worry about it... I'm just glad they are ok... I'm sorry about the lute... I'll help work to pay for a new one, since it was my comrade that broke it."

The peacock waved a dismissive, feathered hand before she replied.

"No need, this isn't the first time such an accident has happened."

The avian squatted down in her silky dress, where Milky was still happily gazing at their flower, and held a hand over the instrument. Just as every other incantation, Aster couldn't understand a word of it as the pieces of the broken instrument started to vibrate and shake themselves back into shape. The strings reattached themselves automatically as the impossible puzzle was reassembled perfectly. Aster watched in heartwarming delight as she pulled her touch back, revealing the perfectly fine acoustic, repaired beyond all belief. The human smiled at the avian, speaking in his excitement.

"That's incredible!"

Mist only giggled slightly a bit, and ran a feathery hand over the strings, drawing the simple, white beast's attention back to their repaired toy. The look on the canine's face brought great joy to the human, as the ball of fluff happily picked it up and began strumming a basic tune, their tail thumping along behind them. Mist rose, and gave the canine's head a gentle pat before she turned back to Aster.

"Follow me, if you would."

Mist turned to leave, never even turning to make sure the human had followed. He had, and soon found himself being led to one of the small buildings near where he and his wolf were staying. Mist stepped inside, and Aster followed her through the opened door. When the boy stepped inside, he saw she was gesturing at a chair in the center of the room. There was a larger mirror on the opposite wall. The human was a bit uncertain, but trusted the peacock anyways, taking the offered seat. Mist went directly to her point.

"There's something you have I would like to purchase from you, human. I will well compensate you for your trouble."

Aster gave the peacock a curious look. He had nothing of value on him aside from his armor, and that was back at his bedroom along with his staff, none of which were for sale. The avian clarified for the boy.

"Worry not, it's something simple. What I want to buy from you, is your fur. Your "Hair," as your people called it."

Aster laughed loudly in response to the odd request.

"Hahaha! You don't have to buy that... You can just have some... But I have to ask, why?"

The graceful peacock stepped over to a small table as she answered the boy.

"Human fur was used for a large variety of medicine before the fall of man, and since there aren't many humans left... I mean any humans left, besides yourself, that ingredient has become increasingly difficult to find. The only option at this point is tomb robbing, and even then, it is nowhere near as potent as a living sample."

Aster wasn't sure he really wanted to know the details of tomb robbing human graves, so he just agreed to give her some of his hair. It wasn't like it didn't grow back quickly enough. A moment later, and Madame Mist came back holding an extremely thin, short blade. She held it to the side while she talked to the human in the chair.

"Human fur is rare, so I will be compensating you for it. Does thirty gold sound fair? I'll leave a bit for you, I've plenty practice from the orcs."

Aster didn't have the best concept of the value of money, considering his upbringing, but he knew that offer was greatly overpriced. He tried to argue as much, but the avian silenced him when she spoke again.

"You are the only source of this ingredient left, you should place more value on its availability, last son of man... Besides, I will make far more than that by selling such rare tonics in this age, so listen when I say, you should not feel guilty about taking the payment... Is there nothing you wish to purchase for yourself? Or perhaps, your wolf?"

Aster thought hard about that, and remembered he had seen a few things in the town that had caught his eye as a gift to Stahl. There were supplies they needed too, and he could contribute to that simply by having his hair cut back. After pondering that angle, the boy agreed to accept the payment.

Mist went to work, leaning the boy's head back so she could skillfully begin shaving the scalp. The avian bantered softly with the human as she progressed, asking him seemingly random questions as she worked and trimmed away, cutting the hair low to the scalp. Aster couldn't help but feel a bit homesick then, as Javis was the only one to ever trim his hair in the past.

Nearly thirty minutes passed, and Aster relaxed into the sensation, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of air on his head for a change. He was brought back to reality when the avian took a step back, and coughed lightly, signaling to the boy that she had finished her work.

Aster lifted his head forward then, and took a glance towards the mirror. He had had his hair cut plenty of times by Javis, but the results here were certainly much different than the ones his caretaker had yielded. Aster really kind of liked it. It made him look more mature somehow.

His entire head had been closely shaven, leaving a very light, prickly feeling to the skin there. Directly on top, the avian had left a narrow strip down the center, barely an inch in height. (To put it simply, what you or I would call a Mohawk.) Aster was admiring his drastically different appearance with fascination at the difference it had made. His hair had never been cut so low before, but it felt nice, and a whole lot lighter as a bonus. He felt oddly strong in that moment, and smiled at his reflection. Mist spoke her reasoning behind the choice.

"This style symbolizes a promising young warrior in the orc's culture, so it seemed appropriate here. I do hope you like it?" The peacock tilted her head as she finished her inquiry.

"Yes!" Aster replied excitedly, "It's different than I expected, but it looks good! Thank you... I feel even worse about charging you now, though..."

In quick response, the elegant avian placed a small sachet in the boy's hand with a clinking of coin. She smiled and dismissed the worry. She had already received what she needed, after all. Another voice from the open door started to interrupt the pair, but Aster looked over to see his wolf pausing mid sentence, simply staring at his mate's change.

'By the gods... He got even hotter somehow...' Stahl could only stare in his state of heightened emotion, his thoughts running wild on what he wanted to do with his boy in that moment. The moon hadn't changed it's effect on him too drastically from the last time, and that predatory part was surely making a comeback. Aster shifted uncomfortably in the wolf's silence, casting his eyes to the floor as a frown formed on his lips. He mumbled quietly.

"Sorry... I guess I should've asked your thoughts before... I hope it's not too bad?" Stahl stuttered to get the words out to correct the assumption.

"NO! I like it! Sorry, I just couldn't come up with words... Aster, you really do look great. You look like you've grown... You have grown, so maybe that's appropriate. We all need to change ourselves every now and then... Are you going to leave the face fur with it?" Stahl motioned towards his jaw.

The boy knew his wolf was being honest, and perked back up just a small bit before he responded, still not exactly happy to reveal why he didn't usually grow his facial hair out.

"Javis said humans called it a beard. I usually keep it cut because it doesn't grow well over the scars... I think it looks weird..."

Stahl understood, but still wanted to see what this "beard," looked like when it was left to thrive, so he made a request to his mate.

"Will you leave it for a while? I'd like to see that part of you too."

The human melted at the way his wolf always seemed able to raise his spirits with the smallest kindness, and nodded his agreement. Aster suddenly recalled what task he had left his wolf to do without his distraction that morning, and asked about his progress.

"So... Any word from home yet?"

The wolf's smile faded, and his head dropped just a bit.

"Nothing yet... But it is still early..."

Stahl had been repeating that reassuring line to himself for the entirety of his day so far, desperately trying to hold on to hope that he would feel a thought tug at his mind soon. The beast could only pray that hope would be enough.

I'll be real with y'all, I cried writing the Milky scene, lmao. This chapter was more a general look at what was going on behind the scenes with some of our more developing characters. Every bit of it is relevant in some way though, some more than others. I hope you like the path each character has been set on. We get a few more chapters with the orcs, then we push to the next arc. The official reveal to the state the Capitol of Alora is in will be in Ch. 15 or 16. (You get a personal recount of what happened after the spell teleported this group.)

As always, I appreciate your continued support of this story, and love hearing from you. Thank you,

-Pup Bayou