"Hey! Hey! Hey! Why the rush?" Sabal smiled slyly as he grabbed Neo's neck, not letting him escape. He was trying to see what kind of beast the female was to be able to make a full-grown beast-man run in fear like that.
Without any hesitation, the female went in for a hug. Though only half the height, she squeezed Neo hard at the waist and wouldn't let go.
"Cousin! Cousin! How I have missed you!" The female exclaimed loudly, making people turned their heads as they walked by, some eyes were filled with jealousy towards the male beast being hugged.
"S-Se-Serene... Let... Let go... of me!" Neo words could barely escape his lips, with Sabal holding his neck and Serene squeezing tight on his stomach, he had no way of consuming air.
Serene instantly let go of Neo, she hung a full smile on her childish face, showing all of her pearly teeth. Sabal also let go of Neo's neck, if he held it any longer the bird might actually suffer some injury.
"Cousin! Cousin! Where have you been? I have been looking for you but Cousin Porsogon wouldn't even talk to me!" Serene pouted her lips, she indeed had gone to talk to Porsogon but the high and mighty hunter wouldn't even bother to listen to her. His manner had always been extremely rude toward females so she wasn't surprised. She was worried that Neo hadn't returned after their mission but seeing him now, all her worries finally got off her shoulders.
*Cough! Cough!* Neo coughed loudly, trying to catch some air back into his empty lungs, though bird type beasts had better lungs than most animals, they weren't invincible without any breathing for a short while.
Being blamed and put on the spot by Sabal already made Neo annoyed, now being caught by Serene, Neo thought today was especially unlucky.
"Ahhhh... I was still on the mission until now!... It was a top-secret mission so I can't tell you... hahaha!" Neo laughed nervously as he lied, his reaction was so obvious it made Sabal burst into a deep laugh, bending over and backward covering his stomach while doing so.
"PPPfffftttt!!! What was that!? Who do you think you are? Some highly talented soldier or something?" Sabal laughed hysterically but Serene held an innocent expression on her face.
It appeared that Serene rather believed in Neo's obvious lie than anything else, her eyes opened big like a deer as she looked to Sabal and then decided to ignore the beast. Serene inched into held Neo's hand but she couldn't catch it in time as Neo quickly took a step back.
"I- If that's so important, I wouldn't ask anymore..." Serene eyes saddened, she pouted her bottom lips making a cute face "But now that you're here, you definitely need to come play with me, we haven't had a play date in a long time, my father and mother misses you so much."
"Is that so..." Neo nervously laughed it off "It was nice seeing you again, I have an important job need to get done so maybe another time, tell uncle and aunt I will visit when I can, alright?" Neo spoke in a hurry, as he was talking he quickly grabbed Sabal and inched backward further and further away. Not letting Serene had any time to react or say anything, Neo and Sabal had run out of sight, leaving Serene alone in the ocean of beasts, yelling out Neo's name hopelessly.
After running without a break, Neo, dragging Sabal with him, had reached Porsogon's house. Neo breathed heavily as he used all his strength to get away from Serene, he hunched over and leaned on his own knees, droplets of sweat like pearls ran down from his clear forehead.
"Ho? What's with you and that female? Why are you acting so weird?" Sabal glanced over to Neo and asked mockingly. Sabal loved to tease Neo so any chance he got, he would take it.
"Who are you talking about?" Porsogon who was sitting next to the main house table, drinking medicine provided by Viosus calmly asked Sabal. Viosus was standing next to Porsogon with a bottle of medicine in his hand, about to pour some more into Porsogon's bowl.
"A female we met on the way back here, you must have left before you see her but she about this tall, short hair, brown and white feather on her arms and called Neo: 'Cousin! Cousin!"
Sabal instantly imitated the young female, Neo who was just about to catch up with breathing had his face swollen red, he tried to hit Sabal but the snake dodged quickly.
"Ahh... Did Serene find you already?" Porsogon didn't even bother to look at Neo, he already knew Neo wasn't going to be very happy to be caught by Serene so soon.
"Ye-yes, brother. If it wasn't for this idiot, I wouldn't have..." Neo hung his face low and mumbled, he was so angry with Sabal he wished he could beat up the snake.
"Porsogon! Tell me will ya? Why is the pea-brain so scared of that tiny female?" Sabal sat down in the table, naturally got some water from Viosus ad if the fox was just a waiter, serving them at a restaurant.
"BROTHER! DON'T!!" Neo yelled as he clapped his hand on the wood table's surface, making it shook a little. The action was only out of frustration toward the snake but it had come off disrespectful to Porsogon. The Boar slowly put down his medicine bowl and gave Neo a stern look. Neo, of course, quickly caught up to what his brother was implying and shut up immediately, he sat down at the table nice and quiet as nothing had happened.
After letting Neo calmed down for a few minutes, Porsogon gently reminded Neo.
"Do you want to tell him or should I?"
Neo hung his head even lower, but after a while of thinking, he finally lifted his head and decided to explain things on his own. The bird took a deep breath, puffing his chest wide before saying fast.
"Serene is my promised spouse!"