"Stop!" Mian called out as he raised his hands to block Daniel's charge. A dense, blue barrier of energy appeared before him and fended off the attack, forcing Daniel to bounce back against the hard, rocky wall.
"Ah!" The young dominant cried out and glared at Mian, but his look of anger faded to one of hesitation upon setting his eyes on the barrier of energy that had manifested between him and Mian. A few moments passed before a look of understanding dawned on Daniel's face. He understood it all now.
"You have a Gift, don't you?"
...
"Ow!" A pained cry rang out through the wet cave that was situated behind the raging waterfall.
"Oh, suck it up. You're a dominant, a small scratch like this isn't supposed to hurt. Besides, you should be thankful that I'm willing to help out." Mian scolded Daniel as the younger dominant kept on complaining about his aching back.
A pale gold light shone from Mian's palms as he passed them over Daniel's exposed backside. A couple dark spots were scattered across his back, a sign of the injury he had gotten when he slammed against the rocks a few minutes earlier. He was slowly healing the dominant's injuries. He could heal it immediately, but he wanted Daniel to suffer a bit for being harsh to him through the entire day.
Daniel grumbled under his breath and gritted his teeth to endure the burning sensation that ran through his back. A few moments later, the sensation faded, signaling Mian's job as done.
"Good as new." Mian announced and sat back to watch how Daniel would react. He reacted just as Mian guessed. He went from shocked, to amazed, to down right awe.
"This is awesome! My back hasn't felt so good in ages!" Daniel exclaimed and spun around to face Mian. An obvious hint of respect was present in his expression as he faced the older demi-human. "Um, thanks. And, I'm sorry for being so rude earlier." He scratched his head as an embarrassed look came over his expression.
"It's fine. I'm used to being around arrogant demi-humans." Mian shrugged before looking around. "That aside, what do we do now?"
He asked that question both to Daniel, and to Hana.
[We wait. The crystalline layer that is preventing water from flowing into this cavern is the result of the antidote to the drug. It will release an agent that will purify the remains of the drug that is running through the water, and remove the effects of the drug on those who ingest it.]
"I don't know. I never actually imagined what I would do when the drug was dealt with. I guess we can wait to see its effects?" Daniel shrugged his shoulders. He was not even sure of what he was going to do after taking care of the drug that plagued his pack. He had never imagined that he would be able to take care of it so quickly.
"Alright, I guess we can wait. Do we wait here, or do we go back?"
"Let's go back. We can't have them suspecting us or something might happen." Daniel said.
The two boys quickly made their way out of the cave and the river. In less than ten minutes, they had resurfaced on the bank of the river, not too far away from the waterfall.
"I never thought I would actually get to this point." Daniel sighed as he let himself float through the water. He had squeezed out his clothes and hung them on a tree in the distance to dry out. Mian just settled for lying down on a rock to dry out his fur.
"I don't understand how you can be so relaxed. Does it not bother you that we could be found out any moment?" Mian turned to face Daniel with a questioning look.
"It's been years. I've long since stopped being fidgety and all that. It wasn't until you came around that I started feeling some pressure." Daniel shrugged and started swimming around in the water. It had been a while since he could feel free in front of someone. Other times, he felt restrained because he didn't know who was watching.
The duo spent hours there before they were forced to return to the town before anyone would come looking for them.
...
"Did you two have a nice time today?" Han asked as he eyed the two boys who sat on the sides of the table where they ate their food.
"Mm, It was alright." Daniel nodded and proceeded to shovel another slice of meat into his mouth. Han shook his head and turned to Mian who only gave an affirmative nod with a small smile.
"It was okay. Daniel was a... decent guide." Mian delayed his words, as per the plan he and Daniel had come up with before returning to the pack.
Daniel had explained that he usually acted and behaved cold and unapproachable most times. He was only warm toward a few people, so they had formulated their plan with that in mind. Daniel would act uncaring whenever they were around others, but he would revert to his normal personality when they were not under supervision. They would stick to this plan until they began to see signs that the antidote that Mian had created was working.
"Oh? Sorry about that, my son can be quite hard to get close to at times." Han sighed and shook his head before reaching for the cup of water that was beside his plate. Both Mian and Daniel tensed at that sight and fixed their gazes on Han's hand. Time seemed to move slowly in that moment as seconds turned into hours.
Han picked up the cup and gulped down half of the water before retracting the cup and sighing. His movement suddenly froze and his eyes grew distant for a brief moment before returning to normal.
"Ah, water. As satisfying as ever." Han sighed as he dropped the cup and continued his meal. The two young boys could only sigh in their hearts.
'Ah, water.'