67 The Female Man (1/2)
Sam paced back in forth inside the tent that the goblins raised for the human mothers. Cyrus sat in the corner, watching her sister. She could feel the frustration in her eyes. Cyrus has always been honest to the point of coming off as rude, but she was also a kind-hearted individual, only showing hostility towards the goblins. Despite their fight, Cyrus could not help but worry about Mari's safety. ”Do you think she's going to be alive?” Cyrus said with a nervous tone, ”No, don't answer that question. Of course, she will be alive. Mari was the strongest one in our group. She'll be fine.”
Suddenly, the drapes covering the entryway opened, revealing Natasha and Mari. Cyrus ran up to Mari as fast as she could and hugged her as tight as she could as if to trap her forever in her embrace. ”You jerk,” She yelled next to Mari's ear, ”Why did you leave like that? Do you care more about the goblins than us.”
Mari was lost for words, ”I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry.”
”Shut up! Don't do that ever again.” Cyrus collapse to her knees, forcing Mari to follow her to the floor. Tears were flooding from Cyrus' eyes.
”I promised, I won't do it again.” Mari cried.
Sam stood on the back of the tent with her tail moved back and forth as she watched her sister and Mari burst into tears. After a couple of minutes, Cyrus calmed down.
Flute entered the tent once the two stop crying. She gave them linin to use as their bedding. Once the women prepared for the night, they sat close to another to stay warm. There was no fire to warm, unlike the barn they were staying at before. They could only rely on their blankets and a bottle of spirit to warm their body.
Sam and Cyrus sat next to Mari while smiling. ”I didn't know you had two cats?” Natasha jokingly said.
”That's very offensive,” Cyrus said while glaring at Natasha.
Mari giggled due to Cyrus' sudden change in mood. Sam joined in half-heartedly while hugging Mari's arm even more. ”Well, I don't mind being a cat.” She said.
The women stayed together until dawn. They took turns taking a sip of the alcohol while sharing stories. Natasha came from the Baron Isles, which was located further west, next to the kingdom of Boritan. Despite the name, Baron Isles were not islands. It was a small peninsula ruled by various independent counts.
The county Natasha lived in got caught in a war between two neighboring Counts. She left her village to join mercenaries on their campaign, looting the dead bodies on the battlefield before burying them and did the chores around the battlements. She sent all of her earnings back to her family. Eventually, the war ended, and so did the profits. Natasha decided to join a group of adventures on their expedition into Raiden Forest, and the rest was history. Mari knew Natasha was a very hardworking woman, but to think she had the heart to work so close to war for her family.
Sam and Cyrus were born in the deserts of Aljabal, a kingdom in the far east. They were part of a nomadic tribe known as Alis. Cyrus was excited to tell them the many places they visited. Mari listened intently to Cyrus, not just because she found her stories fascinating. Cyrus' energy and emotive body language made her stories grander than it should have been. Her ears would point upward when it was a lively scene and backward when it was a sad scene. And her tail shot straight upward when the story reached its climax before it slowly lowers itself to the floor.
Sam stayed quiet throughout the story. Mari liked Sam's attentiveness, though this could be because she was too shy and would much rather let her sister tell the stories. She envied the twins.