Page 33 of Ragoru

Evie blew out a breath. “Fuck. I didn’t even know that it was there until it exploded from the trees.”

Vrishna huffed and looked around, his fur along his neck and running along the sides of his plating down his spine still standing on end. She gave his pelt a shake, and his fur smoothed slightly as he tried to calm himself.

“It must be starving to even make the attempt,” he pointed out.

“I know the feeling,” Sabol grumbled.

Her lips thinned with distress, but Thral nuzzled her comfortingly though he shot Sabol an annoyed look. A look of guilt flashed across the other male’s face, and Sabol pressed his muzzle against her cheek and his hands stroked along her back and arms lovingly.

“Pay no attention to me, rya. We ate very well in preparation for this. Vrishna and Thral both warned me what it was like going into the mountains. The pinch of hunger is tolerable. I gorged enough before we left that I won’t suffer any ill effects.”

“Doesn’t mean that I have to like it,” she said as they began to move forward again up the rocky slope, hating the fact that this was one problem that she hadn’t foreseen but which they had anticipated and prepared for.

It didn’t make her any happier that they were going hungry. It was just one more thing she hated about the entire area. Evie stared in distaste at her surroundings. She always prided herself on being able to see the beauty in the natural world wherever she was, but it was hard to feel any of that when life was clinging stubbornly to broken rock and fragmented stones. She’d never seen more boulders in her life and was already sick of them.

Once I get out of these mountains, I’m never coming back.

It was especially tedious with the way that it slowed all of them down—but especially Evie—as they were forced to pick their steps carefully among the stones. The way loose dirt and broken stones slid underfoot, it threatened to easily lame anyone not paying attention where they walked. It made their progress slower and more painstaking. By the time they came to a stop for the evening, her feet and legs ached from the awkward footing and her muscles were exhausted when she sank onto a rock on the few patches of semi-soft ground they’d come across.

Yanking off her boots, she groaned as she flexed her feet and dislodged a few errant pebbles that had slipped into each boot before setting them aside and resting her sock-clad feet on the bit of sad-looking grass in front of her. From the corner of her eye she caught Sabol grimacing as he looked around.

“This is bringing back unpleasant memories of our homeworld, except that this is greener,” he muttered. “Just as many rocks, though. And more rocks.”

Vrishna chuffed. “It doesn’t get any better.” He stood and stretched. “Come. We might as well hunt and see what game we can find nearby before it begins to get dark.”

Sabol nodded, and the males quickly picked their way among the rocky incline and the few straggling trees in opposite directions until they both disappeared. Thral dropped down behind her with a tired huff, his head dropping over her shoulder tiredly as his arms curled around her body.

Evie ran a hand over his ear and cheek just as he liked, smiling when he leaned into her touch as he often seemed to do as of late. She secretly loved it but kept it to herself, worried that if she pointed out this habit of his that he would become self-conscious about it. With a rumble of contentment, he dragged her closer to him, his arms tightening slightly as he cocooned her in his warm embrace.

She snuggled into him. She hadn’t realized until that moment how cold she’d been feeling. In comparison to the chill air of the foothills, Thral was wonderfully warm. She rested there in his arms, her head pillowed against the fur of his chest as she breathed in his warm scent. Her eyelids drifted shut drowsily, and she must have fallen asleep because when she awoke the sun was much lower in the sky and the tantalizing smell of cooking meat made her stomach rumble hungrily.

Sabol grinned at the sound as he skewered meat onto another collapsible cooking stick from her pack and extended it over the fire with the one that he already had cooking. The meat gave off a wonderful fragrance from the herbs and spices she’d found in the house. She hadn’t had any since her own rations depleted at her post, and she’d been shocked to discover the quality of the seasoning and how well it was preserved within the long-last containers in the house. She’d used plenty of it while they were in the house and had made certain to fill her supply containers with the most savory for cooking over the fire before they left. It seemed that Sabol recalled which ones were her favorites since she nearly moaned at the delicious fragrance.

She was barely able to restrain her eagerness when the first of the skewers were handed to her and she plucked at the meat with small hisses from the heat as she blew at it impatiently. She ate every bite but was reluctant to take the second skewer when it was pressed into her hand. She looked down at what remained of the catch. Three rabbits almost half the size of those that had been in other parts of the forest. She swallowed nauseously. That was less food than what they’d been able to find yesterday, and yet they’d cooked a wild rabbit all for her when their large bodies needed the calories.

Shaking her head, she tried to nudge it back to him. “Go ahead and eat it, Sabol. I’m full, and I know that you actually enjoy a bit of the cooking at times.”

He gave her an unconvinced look, but it was Thral who intercepted and pushed it back toward her, his eyes narrowing.

“You haven’t eaten enough and are still hungry. You will eat at least this much,” he directed with a soft growl.

She gave him a frustrated look and glanced over to Vrishna for help. The male gave her an apologetic look.

“I will not contradict our lead’s decision, but he’s also correct, rya. We cannot feed until we are certain that you are taken care of. Not one of us would take that food from you until we are certain that we’re comfortable with the amount you’ve eaten… which isn’t enough.”

She flushed, feeling the uncomfortable squeeze of guilt. “Look, this was cute a few days ago, but it’s really unnecessary.”

Three faces regarded her stonily, and Evie sighed in defeat and proceeded to nibble on the tasty meat. Her triad actually appeared relaxed and content as she ate and not like dogs staring and waiting for scraps to drop. The moment she was finished and they sniffed at her and decided they were content with how much she ate, they descended on what was left, making quick meals of the meager amounts of flesh. What had been filling for Evie she knew was barely a few mouthfuls for the Ragoru, which only stirred her guilt more even if they appeared to be entirely unconcerned with it.

She hated seeing them go hungry. It broke something a little in her to know that they picked the bones clean and still hadn’t gotten enough before they went to work preparing a sleep area for her. Clearing several stones, all three males worked together with their four hands. They dug an impression into the dirt, which they lined first with bits of greenery nearby, before unrolling the blankets that Vrishna had patiently rolled and stashed within the sack that he chose to carry. When they all curled within it to watch the sunset light up the sky as the sun began to descend behind the mountains, she decided that though she missed the comfort of the giant bed at the house, she truly loved the effort they expended, despite how exhausted they were, into making a temporary nest as comfortable as possible in the hard environment.

Thral brushed his muzzle against the top of her head as he shifted slightly, adjusting his position against him so that she fit more neatly into the warmth of his body.

“How much longer before we arrive?” he rumbled.

She didn’t have to ask what he meant. It wasn’t the village he was speaking of or how much longer until her task was completed. Instead, it was how much longer until she left them in the mountains and continued the rest of the way without them. Although they had been traveling for twelve days since they left the house, at times with the Ragoru carrying her between them when they were able to cover more ground that way, it seemed like it had all passed too fast.

“Two days,” she murmured.

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