Seq
Day 5

Whoever said meeting your boyfriend’s parents was awkward had obviously never been in that situation. I know that I had never planned or hoped to meet the woman that Meelo spoke so low of, but it was still unpleasant to be caught by her as I stuck my tongue into her son’s mouth. And to think I almost slid my hand over his ass. My tail twitched at the thought. At least it could have been worse. She could have seen me using my mouth to… Bad thought. Bad thought. Think about something else.
This was going to be a long walk back to camp, especially for Meelo. Damn. I suddenly wished that I let him walk with me. Somebody needed to watch the back, though. Still, I wondered what he was thinking about. He probably was more surprised than I was to be caught making out by Riter. She was his mother, so it was certainly more awkward for him than it was for me.
When we finally arrived at camp, Teo, Callix and Vern where carelessly chatting were we entered. Teo leaned against a hut while facing towards the outside of camp. Callix and Vern, on the other hand, stood with their backs to me. Teo saw us coming before I even got close enough to explain what was happening.
“What the fuck?” Teo screamed, as he drew his bow and loaded an arrow.
Callix and Vern quickly snapped their heads around and looked over their shoulders to see me leading the five Kreq into camp. Callix and Vern then turned their bodies and drew readied bows as well.
“Lower your weapons,” Riter commanded. “We’re not here to attack,”
“The day I take orders from you is the day I sprout wings,” Callix said.
“They really aren’t attacking. All they want to do is talk to Grix,” I explained.
“Why would you bring them here, Seq?” Vern demanded.
“Honestly, two against five didn’t seem like a good idea,” I joked in a poor attempt to loosen the uneasy tension everybody was feeling.
The shouting stopped. The three Kyan did not lower their weapons.
Soon, after what felt like a moon, Vern sighed and placed her bow onto her back. “I’ll go get Grix,” The corsac fox then turned to go fetch the wolf.
Once again, there was an awkward silence, but, much like the first silence, it was short lived.
“Do anything and I’ll gladly bury you in the ground,” Callix warned the Kreq, while locking his eyes on Riter.
I looked back to see how the Kreq leader would react. Riter responded coolly. “When you dump me in the ground, I’ll reach out and drag you down with me,” Callix didn’t have a smartass remark to say that time.
Soon, Sebastian, Aether, Isabel and Fare were present. All eyes were on the Kreq warriors, who now began to look uneasily at the growing number of Kyan. Even my fur began to sting with agitation.
Finally, after what seemed like lifetimes, Grix and Vern came running to the scene. While Grix and Vern approached, Meelo and I took our places among the crowd of the Kyan.
Riter impatiently gazed at the gray wolf. “Took you long enough,”
“What do you want, Riter?” Grix asked.
“Your have worse manners than your warriors,” Riter said, as she glared at Callix and Teo. “I wish to speak in private. I’ll leave my warriors here so you and I can go talk somewhere else,”

“Anything that you say to me can be said in front of any Kyan,”
Riter’s mouth slightly curled into snarl, which quickly vanished. It was obvious that she had no choice in the matter. “I request that the Kyan stop harassing my warriors. I hate being falsely accused of something as vile as trespassing,”
I could see Grix’s hackles rise and his tail bristled in frustration. “A Kyan patrol found Kreq scents inside our borders. And we didn’t harass your warriors. We were searching the border, well within our own territory,”

Riter shook her head. “We weren’t trespassing,”
Grix then laughed, which startled me. “Sure,”
Riter laid her blue icy gaze onto the gray wolf. “We weren’t trespassing. We were looking for Meelo,”
I looked over at Meelo and saw that his eyes full of despair. Right now he was probably blaming himself for everything that the Kreq had done up to this point.
I took a sideways step towards him and gently took his hand into mine. His ears flicked as his head snapped to the side. His eyes, which now filled with surprise, slowly dimmed in relief once he realized that it was me. Meelo’s fingers wrapped themselves around my hand, tightening our grasp. I could still see that he was upset, but he seemed a little calmer now. We would have to talk about it later.
Both of us turned our heads and tried to re-focus on the heated discussion between Grix and Riter, which we hadn’t been listening to for a few moments.
“Even if you were looking for your son, you were still trespassing. Why were you even looking for Meelo? Last time I checked, you didn’t want him in your tribe anymore,” Grix said.
Riter shot a quick glance at Meelo and then returned her focus to Grix. “We intended, no, we intend to finish what we failed to do,”
Grix growled. “I won’t give him to you. He’s a Kyan now and whatever problem you have with him is over,”
Riter shook her head. “It’s not that simple, Grix. Meelo has to pay for what he’s done to me and the rest of the Kreq,”
Meelo’s fingers tightened their hold on me and his hand trembled. Taiya, he was scared. It was hard to believe such a tall snow leopard like him could be scared of anything. I held his hand even tighter, to let him know that I was still there with him.
“You bastards will have to murder me before you harm Meelo or any other Kyan!” Grix roared.
Suddenly, one of the Kreq, a tiger, let out a roar and rushed forward at Grix with his claws unsheathed. Grix didn’t t have time to draw his own weapon and the Kreq was already to close. The cat lifted his arm back and drew it forward to strike the wolf.

An arrow cut through the air and dug half of its body into the Kreq’s neck. The tiger fell backwards, bleeding onto the snowy ground and began to shake violently. Then, after a few moments, the cat grew still.
I looked over and saw Sebastian standing tall and holding his bow high without an arrow.
The Kreq did not move or unsheathe their claws.
“I think it’s time you leave, Riter,” Grix said, breaking the silence.
Riter was still. She glared at Sebastian. “Someday, you’ll pay for that,”
Sebastian drew another arrow. “I wouldn’t bet on it,”
The patrol of Kreq slowly moved forward and picked up their fallen friend. They then turned and vanished into the dark woods without a word. A trail of blood followed closely behind them.
After the Kreq vanished into the night, Grix began organizing sentries to watch the camp. He also ordered a patrol to follow and make sure that the Kreq had left our territory. He also announced that we would be patrolling the border of our territory from now on, in an effort to make sure the Kreq didn’t cross over. Of course, I was picked to be on the first patrol the next morning. After Grix was done giving orders, everyone slowly made their way back to their huts.
After everyone had gone, Meelo and I were left standing alone. Meelo stared into the direction that the Kreq had left and I was sure that he was thankful they hadn’t taken him with them.
Seeing this as an opportunity, I placed myself in front of Meelo and wrapped my arms around his chest. I gazed up at the leopard and gave him a naughty stare to try and make him forget about Riter. “Now, where were we earlier?”