Kayden woke up with a slight headache and a parched throat, he was alone on the ground, he turned around and saw Thane trying to grill some of the meat from the day before.
Kayden walked up to the entrance of the cave and fell in the snow face first, after letting the cold melt into his bones, he turned around facing up, it was a poor attempt of him trying to wash away his shame at what he had done.
Last night was a miserable night, while he studied back in the clan, no one ever told him about things to do out in the wild to survive, and he certainly never expected sleeping with a man, skin to skin to stop both from freezing to death, he felt... Tainted.
After a moment, he packed snow into his mouth to reduce the dryness he felt in his throat.
"Get back in here Kayden, snow isn't a good substitute when you're thirsty" Thane called out but too late, he already had a mouth full of snow, he tried his best to not spit it out in disgust as he felt other things in his mouth that weren't snow.
'Bluurgh'
He forced himself to spit out after he chewed on a piece of stone, he walked back inside and came face to with the remaining pieces of meat from last night, ignoring the pain in his throat, he sat down and chewed happily, sucking his fingers at intervals, he wondered how the meat was this delicious or maybe it was the hunger talking.
After eating and throwing the bones to the side, Thane summoned some water for them both wash up themselves.
"Time to go then?" Kayden asked, he felt a bit excited, he was well fed, the weather wasn't looking bad, the sun shone directly on his skin and he felt good.
"Yeah, let's," Thane said as they both left the comfort of the cave back into the wild once more.
They began their journey to the south, crossing dangerous paths and killing beasts as well as demonic monsters, Kayden became more adept with his powers and how exactly he could use them in different applications he hadn't known to himself.
Thane became much stronger, more powerful, they both had a whole look to them, two second-rate martial warriors, sojourning through the lands, be in dry, waste, possessed, cursed, they always managed to scrape by.
With steel at hand and skills to bear, no monster they both faced together lived to go back to its family, they are the flesh of the beasts they conquered and as for the ones they couldn't, instincts told them to avoid at all costs, which was much more than either of them bothered to count.
But after many weeks of traveling, they had encountered human settlements on their way, they had drank and shared their stories, protected and helped, saved humans, and taught them things they knew, they had matured, become more like men, the embers of the boys they once were vanished away as they survived the cruel reality of being a warrior, what they had survived had indeed made them into something akin to men and beasts, bordering between both nature's but after all that had happened, they finally arrived at the water clan.
Survivors that they were, they still carried the emblem of their Clan, it was used as a means to identify where you came from and what rank you belonged to.
"So this is it?" Kayden asked exasperated, although they had passed through the villages that led up to here, he still wasn't expecting the clan to be this... Loose?
"It's exactly as I had thought," Thane said with a smile plastered to his face, Kayden had noticed more of Thane that he knew to come back over the weeks, after the incident with the Blood Vine, he had thought something had changed about Thane and he had lost his friend forever but there was no need to worry about that, right here and now, he was the Thane he always knew.
"Why are there so many naked women?" Kayden asked feeling a bit embarrassed, the women here wore very loose clothing that barely covered up parts of their bodies, exactly their protuded nipples, Kayden couldn't take his eyes off but at the same time, he wanted to look so desperately.
"You must be travelers here for the first time huh?" A gentle voice said from behind them, Kayden turned to see a young boy, a little older than them smile as he approached them, the youth was clad in boiled leather and plate.
"How did you..." Kayden asked, he had been fairly sure that he had made sure to blend into the environment and people.
"Because your eyes keep undressing every woman you come across?" The man said with a hearty smile as he reached his hand forward to shake theirs, Kayden shook him and was surprised by his rather strong grip but he was prepared and held his own, surprising the guard.
Thane introduced the both of them formally with a slight bow, both hands stretched outwardly in a respectful manner.
"We are second-rate martial warriors from the Thunder clan and we come here to bring important news to the head of the clan or whoever is of high authority," Thane said as he showed the guard his plaques, on the plaques, were the authority of the Head of the Thunder Clan.
The guard bowed back in respect, "Please come, I shall show you to the quarters, you look tired and in need of rest" the man said without hesitation.
"Thank you for your hospitality, but this matter has to do with the life and death of the humans, it's very important, please excuse my haste and disrespect," Thane said bowing once more.
The guard looked at the men standing in front of him and wondered if he should follow protocol or just damn the consequences since they said it had to do with the life and death of the common people.
He looked at their plaques once more and felt the power of the two men in front of him if anything these two seemed to be mid-stage second-rate martial warriors, he couldn't beat either of them even if he tried, and then respecting him this much means the matter had to be quite urgent.
"Aaahh, damn it all" the guard sighed, "I am Bran, one of the guards stationed here, I'll take you to the main pavilion, there you can make your case with the elders and heads," he said calmly as he guided them through the streets full of barely clothed women.