Chapter 8
Outside in the fields, guarded by the swaying pines of the leopards lands, Brandon was getting the work out of his lifetime.
The cart that Ezekiel had agreed to haul out to Erin and Drin's home in lue of the upcoming Clan Celebration was indeed large....and as Ezekiel had guessed it was "as heavy as a horse". Brandon and Ezekiel both stood shoulder to shoulder, pulling on the long wooden handle, and marching the cart forward beneath the pine trees.
Ezekiel and Brandon traveled along a well-trodden path of firm earth. Brandon had been informed by Ezekiel earlier that morning that paths such at the one that they traveled crisscrossed all of the Leopards lands and that many of them had appeared over time as traffic from different areas created divots in the earth. Rainfall and wind had seemed to do the rest.
Halfway to Erin's home Ezekiel stopped and handed him a chilled water canteen.
Brandon was damp, his shirt felt glued to him, so with a few deft flicks of his fingers he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it from his shoulders entirely, breathing a sigh of relief when an errant breeze caressed his bare torso.
Then Brandon turned back to the cart and tossed the shirt over the railing, before he took the cap off of the bottle and soaked the back of the shirt with the cool water. Once that was done Brandon took the canteen and knocked it back, gulping down the icy water from the flash. It was then, as Brandon screwed the top back onto the canteen that he realized that Ezekiel was walking up to him, his blue gaze peering at Brandon's hip. The moment Brandon noticed him Ezekiel started to walk toward him, his blue gaze still attached to Brandon's left side.
Instantly Brandon wanted to put distance between them. The idea of another person's touch or proximity still made him apprehensive beyond words. He started to back away....
"No. Wait. Brandon hold still." He called, the Guardian waving him to a stop..
Not knowing why Brandon stopped and let him get closer, but still intimidated by his proximity Brandon flinched and asked him sharply. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Its okay..." Ezekiel smiled at him softly, and made a calming gesture as if he sensed how his touch was feared. "Nothing's wrong. I just think this would be a good time to take a look at your stitches. I mean I've been neglecting them for days. I want to see how you've healed"
"Oh...right." Brandon said. He barely had the time to protest before Ezekiel was standing slightly stooped by his left side and his fingertips, smooth and damp form the water canteen he'd been holding, brushed a crescent around the edges of the healing wound in Brandon's side.
"Hmmm...." Ezekiel openly mused as he looked at the no longer inflamed or infected side wound. "This is really good....your almost ready for the stiches to come out too. Ill have my mother cut them for you in another day or two." He said and Brandon got the sensation of Ezekiel probing around the area.
Wanting to push his hand away Brandon flinched and released a fake hiss of pain.
"Oh, Sorry." Ezekiel apologized and took a step back, perhaps thinking that his touch had incurred pain, but instead his touch was too gentle. The feeling of his eyes on Brandon's skin was as unsettling as his touch. The caress of his fingers on Brandon's body too tender and filled with care, and the awareness of him made Brandon feel things he didnt want to.
Without a word Brandon snatched his shirt up off of the cart and slipped the cold damp garment back over his shoulders. It seemed to take forever for the buttons on his shirt to come together and hide him from Ezekiels azure gaze. But his eyes stayed on Brandon even after he was covered.
"Uh ok? Come on, stop staring Ezekiel." Finally Brandon gave up and leaving his shirt partially un-buttoned he looked up at Ezekiel and said. "It's not that bad really."
"Not that bad? Your littered with scars. Terrible scars..." Ezekiel hissed, it was easy to tell that he was working himself up to something. That Brandon's words had hit a nerve. "I guess that's not bad...just like you choosing not to eat for three whole days?
Instantly disliking the preachy tone that Ezekiel was starting to take with him Brandon sighed. "Jezz, every time you see my scars you get all bossy like this!" Brandon cried. "What is it about my scars that makes you so upset?" Brandon asked him. He honestly wanted to know. Why did Ezekiel have to keep prying....why did he even care. "The scars don't bother me...so why do they bother you so much? Why do any of my actions bother you at all!? "
With a heavy growl Ezekiels hand tightened on the carts handle, as a flash of light went across his angry sapphire gaze. "They bother me because whoever did that to you needs to be put six feet under...and you need to be cared for, even if you wont care about yourself dammit!" he hissed.
Conflicted and warmed by Ezekiels words because Brandon knew they only came from a good place, Brandon was instantly angry at himself for feeling anything at all.
Brandon squelched the warmth in irritation as he cast Ezekiel a patronizing remark. "So says the alpha male Guardian. Your a real hero...hes going to save the world ladies and gentlemen!" He mumbled across Ezekiels next sentence.
Ezekiel seemed to ignore him. "Look..." he continued. "It's not just the scars that bother me so much...." He brushed Brandon's sarcasm away so easily that Brandon may as well have remained silent. "From the moment you get here and nearly bleed to death in front of me and my mother all you seem to think about is leaving and being alone. Its dangerous."
Not liking the direction that the talk was heading in Brandon tried to reply as vaguely as possible. "So? What if it is...?" he asked.
With a sigh Ezekiel put his hands behind his back and with a small grunt he gripped the carts handle and started to lift it. Unwilling to abandon a job that he had started Brandon went back to his spot beside Ezekiel and hefted the porting of the cart's handle. For a few moment both of them stewed in silence as they labored beneath the carts weight. Finally Ezekiel broke the silence.
"So? Why...." Ezekiel asked him boldly turning he head as he marched, his blue gaze holding Brandon's as they pulled the cart down the path. "Why are you so insistent on leaving and being alone?...Are you running from something? Something in your past maybe? Something that made those scars on you?" He said softly.
Brandon looked away from him and swallowed a curse. The hit and miss of his words actually made something inside of Brandon cringe. "I keep telling you to let it go!" Brandon mumbled fiercely, holding back the vexed shout that he wanted to release. "I don't like being interrogated! So Stop it!"
Ezekiel growled, and everything about it was full of displeasure. "You're the one who's turning this into an interrogation!" He hissed at Brandon looking away from him. "All I'm asking are simple easy questions. Questions that you've been dodging for weeks. For once can't you just give me a straight fucking answer!?"
There was no denying the discontent. The annoyance in his words. Brandon knew it was hard to have one kind gesture after another thrown back into his face. But Brandon had no intention of bowing to Ezekiel's anger. Or Brandon's own felling of guilt for being so pig headed and unpleasant....on purpose.
"You are blaming me because you never ask me the right questions thats you fault." Brandon input and snorted at the look that Ezekiel sent him. It was easy enough to play this game. To pretend like he didn't understand, like there weren't a million things that he was hiding from the world. Easy to play with words and hearts.
Ezekiel felt the frown furrow his brow before he could think of a response. For a long moment Brandon's words brought him up short, the he sighed.
"So you don't give me straight answers...because I haven't been asking you the right stuff? Bull!" Ezkeiel growled.
Brandon only shrugged and somehow guessing that this would be his only response Ezekiel took a step back from the cart and said. "Why don't you just answer what I've already asked you Brandon? Why does it have to be a guessing game?"
"But You have so many questions....Your like this prickly little ball in my shoe. Annoying. I dont want to answer..."
"And you're being childish." Ezekiel shot back, wholly unimpressed with his jargon.
Stung by the rebuke Brandon sneered at him. "I'm childish?" He asked. "Why? Because I won't let your boss me around all the time?"
"No because you're making me jump through loops...Acting stupid!" Ezekiel had the presence and impatience to sneer back at him
"Fuck you...." Brandon snapped at him and looked away as the cart clattered along behind them.
Ezekiel scoffed and sent Brandon a smaller sneer. "Now your angry? But you are playing games! Playing stupid to annoy me! But if you aren't playing around, then simply tell me this....." There were a thousand question on Ezekiel's mind. But....the first one that came out of his mouth was the one he had been dying to ask since he had realized that Brandon was soon going to disappear.
"What are you planning to do when you leave? Where are you traveling to, when you set off from our Lands in a few days? Where are you going Brandon?"
Brandon didn't know what to say to Ezkeiels insistent question.
He wasn't actually going anywhere.
And yet Brandon couldn't stay.
Perhaps after he departed from the Leopards home he would just....drift.
He would go back to a solitary life. He would travel....and travel....and travel.....until the shadow behind him disappeared, or maybe until time simply washed everything away, including himself. Wouldn't that be nice?
That was the plan.
That was his motivation.
His one reason for being alive.
It was as hollow as he felt. And it was the truth.
A truth he didn't want to tell Ezekiel, because he sensed that it, like his scars, would make the Guardian all the more concerned for him.
" If I'm honest I guess I'm going to go anywhere the wind blows me." Brandon shrugged opaquely before glancing up at the swaying Pine branches above. "Anywhere is fine with me."
"Where is anywhere, Brandon?" Ezekiel asked him.
"To the east." Brandon simply shrugged choosing a direction at random.
"The east....where?" Ezekiel pushed
Brandon sent him a cold smirk and replied "South of the west, of course."
"Why are you doing that?" Ezekiel asked him with a heavy sigh as they continued to haul the cart across the smooth path, beneath the pine trees.
"What?" Brandon said back with a shrug, purposely acting nonchalant. "I'm answering you, aren't I?"
"No you aren't!" Ezekiel shot back with a bemused scoff.
Brandon shrugged and looked away from him, adapting a slightly sing song tone. "But I am." He said back. "I'm answering....exactly what you're asking me. So, if you want different answers ask better questions."
Ezekiel hissed at him testily as Brandon ran in circles with his words. "How can you answer two different ways to the same question?"
Possibly enjoying himself too much Brandon let out a teasing smile as he leaned towards Ezekiel and said "I think the real question you should be asking yourself...Is how can you ask the same question two different ways."
Obviously at the end of his rope Ezekiel sighed and shook his head "Jesus...with the word games....Just stop...." he growled glancing away from Brandon, a neutral expression settling over his face, replacing the frustration, as his blue eyes looked forwards and locked onto something in the distance.
At this point the two of them had walked into a clearing, the sunlight, soft and warm struck Brandon on his face and brought the world into crystal clarity. Tall swaying pines fell away at their back taking their shade, while tall, and wide fields bound off into the distance, lush and verdant, the world shifted and dances in the wind. As if the earth were made of green water.
Perhaps for the first time....Brandon felt a small softening in his heart as he gazed at the area.
What a beautiful land....
Brandon thought to himself, confused at why it had taken him so long to realize how ephemeral and lush Ezekiel's home was. But these thoughts fled as he looked back over at Ezekiel.
Instantly Brandon was shocked by how close the two of them had become during their little walk in the dim woods. Their shoulders and hips nearly brushing with every step.
"You want to stop? Are you giving up?" Brandon couldn't help but goad him slightly. Not only because the Shifter looked all the more attractive when he was angry, but also, because if Ezekiel was mad....then he wasn't trying to analyze everything.
"No I literally mean I want you to Stop...." Ezekiel said looking back at Brandon before his own steps faltered and the large cart began to squeak as the heavy load on top of it ground to a halt in the crunchy earthy path. "Stop pulling the cart...were here..." he said, and without another word he dropped his arms from the cart and turned his back.
Ezekiel seemed sufficiently defeated as he left Brandon behind and he walked to the side of the cart and pulled down the panel built into the side of its wall. Once the door was opened Ezekiel quickly started pulling a few of the empty water canteens out of the compartment at the front of the cart.
Brandon watched him for a moment before he turned and beheld the home of Ezekiels cousin. "So, this is Erin's cabin?" He mumbled as he took step away from the wagon and glanced about the new area that Ezekiel had brought him to.
***
Fields of long green grass stretched out all over the hills and paths in the distance and a large settlement full of various sized shapes and buildings sat far to the south. It was the first glance that Brandon had had of one of the four Leopard Clans Villages. The sun sat like a swollen lemon in the sky casting warm rays that perfectly out lined a village that partially resembled any mortal settlement that Brandon had ever visited, but instead of rev of machines or the bustle of bodies or the cement spires that reached in to the heaves.
The Leopards village gave off the dull roar of activity, and serenity and all of the buildings were obviously built from the wood and stone of the trees and mountains to the north.IT was still too far away for Brandon to pick up many details, but just form the size of the buildings and homes.....Brandon suddenly got a small inkling of just how many Shifters lived there. He got his first inkling of just how many Leopards and Leopardesses Mantilo and his sons
He got the first inkling of just how many people he could possibly kill if he didn't leave that land.
With a small shiver Brandon turned his eyes from the Village and took in the cabin that was Erin's home.
It was a simple log cabin, perhaps a little wider and longer then Brandon would have thought, with a small chimney to the far left of the home, lots of windows, and healthy almost green wood that made up the entire structure. To him it looked like a cozy home, the wood paced tightly together and patches of the outer walls slightly touched by wet, bright green moss. The building was built on a slight hill and a smooth hard wood porch sat attached to the front, just in front of the front door. A few potted plants sat to the far left of the porch, but aside from this the outer part of the home lacked decorations.
And to Brandon's surprise there were other carts parked along the side of the home. Each one filled to the brim with vegetables.
"Yup...this is Erin's home. And those..." Ezekiel pointed towards the four giant carts parked against the home. "Are all of the vegetables will need to be prepared. They have all come here from the other villages." Ezekiel said, then he turned after setting the canteens down and resetting the compartment door.
He grabbed the railing that they had used to pull the cart across the road. Brandon could tell that he was about to jump up onto the cart to pull open the latch, but suddenly Ezekiel stopped, and took a step back.
Suddenly he was just in front of Brandon, looking him right in the eye. He looked like his feathers were still ruffled from their earlier conversation. His shocking azure gaze was slit, reflecting the beast inside, while the twin peaks of fangs flashed as he spoke. He looked at Brandon for a second, then he asked one last question.
"I've got know....Are you seriously going to do this every time I ask you a question? Avoid the answer, and deflect, and play games?"
Trying not to smile Brandon shrugged and replied. "That's up to you...when you stop asking then maybe I'll stop answering. It could all be so simple between us."
Ezekiel snarled at him, his eyes flashing with a short burst of light. The rage that he professed to always holding back leaking through for one sudden second of frustration.
The sight and sound of that should have sent a chill of fear down Brandon's back, but instead it ignited a curl of heat in his lower parts that he couldn't quite ignore. But he hid it easily enough as he rolled his eyes.
With a teasing smile Brandon leaned towards Ezekiel, unafraid....because he had never given Brandon a reason to fear him. He tapped the beast on the chin with a finger and smirked. "Sorry, I'm not scared of you...Reaver." He told Ezekiel softly.
"I know....and you would be the first in my life not to fear me. I think I like that about you the most...." He growled, then he stepped away. Brandons smirk faltered at his words and their honesty, as the Guardian pulled away.
"But I also kind of hate it."
And with a sigh of disgust Ezekiel turned and hopped up on to the cart, just as the cabin door cracked open.