“When are they gonna come back?” Kylan asked as he rocked over the entrance to the underground facility, Leocadies keeping an eye on him from behind just in case something was to happen.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Let’s hope they get back soon,” he responded simply, skinning another apple for Kylan to eat since he apparently didn’t like the skin. The kid must be starving, so Leocadies wasn’t entirely sure how he was being so picky, but he assumed it had something to do with Feather giving him strength and energy and numbing the pain down. He wouldn’t have completely gotten rid of the hunger, but Leo supposed it was possible that the boy was simply capable of ignoring minor hunger pains in favor of being picky. But at least he was willingly eating the jerky, because as of now, he was refusing to even touch the pears. But as soon as he finished skinning the apple like the boy had asked, he handed it over to Kylan with a gentle smile. “Here you go. Will this be alright?”
“...it’s got brown spots on it,” Kylan frowned, wrinkling his nose at the fruit as Leo let out a small laugh.
“That’s just because we’ve traveled with it, so it’s got bruises. They’ll all be like that, but I assure you they’re still tasty,” he smiled, ruffling the boy’s black head of hair as he set the apple in his hand, watching proudly as Kylan took a small nibble.
“Hm. It’s okay. It’s tolerable, I guess,” he huffed, before taking a larger bite, gnawing on the apple as he turned towards Leocadies with big blue eyes. And with a mouth full of food, he moved a sticky hand to latch onto Leo’s arm, the ginger man squatting down to be beside him as Kylan eagerly questioned, “So is Feather your leader?”
“Oh, yes. He’s my leader, anyways,” Leo grinned, carefully taking out more jerky for the boy to nibble on. He’d need a proper meal when they got back to the mainland, but for now this would suffice, and so he kept the conversation going with a smooth smile. “But he’s not the leader of everyone traveling with us. Right now, we’re essentially two groups with two different leaders traveling together, I’d say.”
And Kylan’s eyes widened at this, quickly dropping the apple core onto the ground as he pushed himself into Leocadies with vigor. “Who’s the other leader?! Are they cool?!” he exclaimed, bright giddy smile already beginning to cover his face as he lifted a skinny arm up to pump his fist in the air. “I bet it’s that really tall buff girl! The one who looks really really strong! I bet she could pick up a tree! I bet she’s the other leader,” Kylan exclaimed gleefully, Leo softly laughing at him as he gave a slight shake of his head.
“Her name’s Achitha, and I’m afraid she’s not the other leader,” he chuckled, Kylan looking extremely offended at that as he sat back down.
“Then who is it?”
“The tall guy with the bangs covering his eyepatch,” Leo explained, pointing to his left eye as his orange colors blazed. “He helped put ice over the water so Feather could get to you faster.”
“What?! Oh, I guess he is pretty tall!” Kylan agreed, reaching over to snatch the pouch of jerky Leo was holding as he began to dig into it for more. “Tall guys are always leaders. That’s what my mom says. She says tall guys are the only typa guys she’ll listen to.”
“Oh, did she?” the ginger man laughed, reaching around to help start breaking the jerky into smaller pieces so that the boy didn’t try to chew too much at once and end up choking. “What about me? Would she listen to me, ya think?”
Though, he couldn’t help but wilt slightly as Kylan gave him a thoughtful, analyzing look, like he genuinely had to think about it. “Hmmmm… no, I don’t think so,” the boy eventually admitted, turning to take another bite of the jerky as he announced bluntly, “You’re too short!”
“Ahhh… I see… aren’t I about average height for a man, though? I mean, I might be a little shorter...” he complained, patting the top of his head with a pout. “I’m five feet and four inches... hmm, maybe I am pretty short...”
“Hahah!” Kylan laughed at him, Leo smiling a bit to see the boy so hyper. “Well I’m gonna grow into a big and strong man so my mom will respect me! I’ll be so tall, much taller than you! I’ll be even taller than your tall leader with the ice!” he grinned, standing up to point down at Leo’s sitting form as the ginger lion smiled.
“Really? How tall do you think you’ll be?”
“I’ll be seven feet tall!”
“Oh? What about being eight or nine feet?”
“Uh, no, that’s unrealistic.”
“I see…”
And the boy gave another huff before he sat back down next to the hole, peaking down the ladder again before he turned back towards Leo. “Hey mister, how long has it been?”
“I think it’s been around an hour,” he replied carefully, taking his time to skin another apple for the boy as he kept nibbling at the beef jerky. He’d had five apples already, but he still seemed hungry, so Leo figured more nutrition wouldn’t hurt him.
“Really? Oh…” the boy trailed off, before he suddenly seemed to catch sight of something in the distance, instinctively grabbing at Leo’s arm as the man looked up. “And who’s that? Are they on our side?”
Except, looking at the figure, Leo had never seen that man before. They had shiny bronze skin that reflected the soft rays of the sun and soft amethyst hair that was longer on one side than it was the other. It was completely short in the back, cut right along the back of their neck before there was a random long streak that sat on the left side of their face, with bangs that crossed over to frame their dark violet eyes. They looked a bit small, and he had androgynous features with a touch of masculinity to throw things off. And Leocadies swiftly picked up Kylan by his waist and leaped with him away from the sewer, not breaking eye contact with the person’s dark violet eyes as he made sure the boy was out of any direct danger.
“Oi, you. Didja really think that ol’ trick would work?” came the man’s voice, raspy, smooth, and oddly higher pitched as Leo set Kylan down, his dark skin already being overcome with sandy orange fur, his ginger hair growing to create a rough mane as sharp, cat-like claws replaced his nails. “Sending out that stupid serpent while it was already cured… not a bad tactic, but it sucked ass anyway, since yer dealin’ with me.”
“Really? And what’s so special about you?” Leo smiled innocently, Kylan snorting against his fur as he tried to hold in a laugh.
But the person in front of them just grimaced, like he was actually angry, before he raised his chin at the both of them in arrogance. “I’ve mastered the concept of luck, so as soon as I got in a lucky stab, I saw that the fucking snake’s blood was all back to red. I almost managed to kill the damn thing, but it got away like the slippery fucker it is. But lemme guess, Feather healed it, right?” he snarled, hands on his hips as Kylan immediately flared.
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“What do you know about Feather?!” he yelled, Leo slapping a paw-ish hand over his mouth to shut him up.
“Be quiet. Not right now.”
“Mmmfffph,” the boy agreed angrily behind his hand, and the ginger haired man let out a sigh before he removed his paw, the person still glaring at them with disgust.
“Feather this, Feather that, is he really so great? Honestly, if you’re to ask me, he’s just like my own leader. They’re almost identical in nature and personality. Might as well be the same person.”
“That’s good to know. And what might your name be, and the name of your leader?” Leo smiled out, still feigning politeness as the amethyst-haired man snorted.
“My name’s not any of yer fuckin’ business. My leader’s ain’t either, shitwad. Go fuck yerself.”
“Oh, you’d like to see that, wouldn’t you?” Leo laughed impulsively, his habitual response to being told to go fuck himself slipping out before he could stop it. And Kylan gawked at him in utter astonishment as the antagonistic person’s violet eyes widened in offense, looking entirely pissed as their expression curled into an even deeper glare.
“Eh? Whaddju just say to me?”
“Um, nothing important, I’m sure… you probably heard wrong, it’s kinda windy out here, haha…”
“Yer a fuckin’ whore,” the man growled out, and for some reason, the winds began to grow even stronger. Leo could instantly tell he’d poked the bear a bit too much, but this fight had probably been inevitable anyway. So as one of his arms burst into flames, he quickly reached out with his telepathy towards Feather and the mythical beast. He couldn’t help but frown upon feeling that Feather’s consciousness wasn’t there, and assumed that his leader must have used up the last of his strength down there. That wasn’t good… but at least he could contact everyone else, it seemed.
Hey! Mythical beast! Are you good over there?
It was silent for a moment in his mind as the other amethyst-haired man struck the first blow, slices of wind cutting forward through his flames as Leo kept Kylan behind him.
Ohh, human with the telepathy… came the ragged answer, and he could tell the beast was injured, wherever it may be. But it still responded fluently, at least capable of speaking as it replied tiredly, Yes, yes, young faithful human, I am fine… for now. Please focus on your own fight, young one.
Right, you got it, Leo responded, running in front of Kylan to take a swipe at the man’s bronze face, before wind pushed him back as he had to claw at the ground for leverage.
So this person used the concepts of wind and luck, was that it? But they didn’t look very skilled, despite the potential behind both of those abilities. His stance was unbalanced and his arms just threw themselves every which way without momentum, like he was purely moving off instinct and nothing else. Whenever Leo pushed forward and he threw his wind out, he’d also push himself back at the same time, like he didn’t have full control over his capabilities. But at the same time, he made all of his lucky shots and Leo missed whatever attacks that weren’t nearly perfect.
Cirrus! We’re being attacked up here, how’s Feather?
He could feel the surprise radiating off of Cirrus’ mind at the fact Leo had spoken into his mind, appearingly not used to it quite yet, but the man quickly gathered his composure as he spoke out loud to him. “Ah, Leo… um, Feather is stable for the most part, Eve says he’ll be fine. We’re on our way back up now, but Achitha and Kya are still stuck somewhere down below. Are you okay?”
Yeah, all good! My opponent’s an amateur, but he uses the concept of luck… but don’t worry, just let me focus and I’ll take care of them, Leo assured before he shut off his communications, focus returning to the person in front of him as the man with the amethyst hair grimaced.
And he was true to his word, fire exploding off his body as he fully shifted into the form of a lion, the brilliant beast digging his claws into the ground as he pushed forward no matter how strong the wind became. He growled and barred sharp teeth at the slender person, fire cascading off him in waves as the other person desperately tried to pull on their concept of luck. But luck couldn’t overcome raw experience. The simple fact was that this man did not have the control or technique to stop Leo, and it was as simple as that. They had the raw power and luck, but nothing else… so Leo pounced on top of their shoulders as his claws dug into them, the man tearing up in sudden fear as Leocadies took in a large, deep breath and let out a guttural roar right into his bronze face.
“No… get off me, I hate you!! If you kill me my brother will make your life a living hell, do you hear me?!” the man screamed, sounding more similar to a child throwing a tantrum as the lion on top of him continued to glare.
Okay, I got them down. What should I do with him?
“Oh, uh…” Cirrus hesitated to answer, clearly stumbling over his thoughts as he must have turned to his companions. “Jayce, do we have any rope? ………Oh, good, that’s good. Leo, there’s rope in Achitha’s pack, you can tie him up with that.”
Okay, you got it! Leo reported back, wisely not thinking his thoughts out loud as he resisted the dire, immature, and boyish urge to refer to that method as kinky. But he carefully morphed back into his humanoid form regardless, one of his paws still fully that of a lion as he kept it pinned on the person’s small chest, giving them a bright smile as he stuck his tongue out. “Oh well, looks like I win. Better luck next time! Ima tie you up now, ‘kay?”
“Huh?! The hell, fuck, don’t do that!!” the man wriggled, hissing and screaming as Leo dragged him over with his claws to where Achitha had left her bag, digging through it for the rope as he took it out with his human arm.
“Wow, you sure do curse a lot. Didn’t anyone ever teach you to save your cursing for when you really mean it? People will take you more seriously that way, and your anger will have a stronger impact,” Leo supplied wisely, the man underneath him glaring at him in outrage.
“Shut the fuck up, you shithead! I’ll cuss however much I fucking want!”
“Duly noted,” the lion responded calmly, carefully binding the man’s wrists, arms, and legs with intricate, tight, and beautiful knots that couldn’t be so easily undone. He had practice in bondage, so this wasn’t too hard for him. Anything helps when you used to be in the military, right?
“Man! I don’t get it!” the man whined as Leo left him sitting on the ground to go check on Kylan, the boy staring at them with wide eyes as he went stiff and let Leocadies pat him down for injuries. But the person just kept going, angrily rambling on and on as he spouted, “Aren’t you a prince?! The fourth prince of Ovin, right?! Your life was set!! You had everything anyone could ever want!! Why’d you forsake it all just to travel around with that guy?! You had so much and you just threw it all away like it was nothing!!”
And Kylan’s wide eyes turned even wider as his gaze shifted back to Leo, that unbelievable knowledge filling up the child’s mind as the humanoid lion figure lifted up a claw in front of his mouth with a kind smile, as if to tell him to keep it a secret. “I am no longer a prince of Ovin. I gave that up many centuries ago, and I don’t regret it,” he smiled calmly, turning back towards the person tied up behind him with another gentle smile, as if he really did think he were talking to a child. “Once you find something you will cherish above all kinds of status and monetary possessions, you will understand why I left it all behind.”
“Huh?! Don’t treat me like a fuckin’ kid!”
“Then you should stop acting like one.”
“Eh?! I’ll kill you!”
“I’m afraid you already tried that, so please don’t make me need to restrain you again,” Leo responded with another smile, Kylan clinging to his sandy furry arms as he peeked at the man. But at the same time, Cirrus, Jayce, and Eve all climbed out of the tunnel, Feather limp in Cirrus’ arms as the boy’s eyes widened, and he clutched Leo tighter at the sight. But Leocadies merely caressed his hair with a padded hand, smiling gently as he whispered, “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Feather is a man of miracles, and he’s been through much worse than this, I assure you.”
“But… but he’s unconscious…”
“Yes, but he’ll wake up,” Leo assured Kylan further, carefully meeting Cirrus’ eyes with fond precision. He looked almost sly, somewhat teasing in his stance as he watched the prince look around to view their surroundings, finally able to wrap his eyepatch back around his face once he saw that the man Leo had fought was already restrained and tied up. But he heard it clear as day when Leo let out a fresh giggle, before he asked with a voice all too sweet, “Well? Have you found your miracle worker, Cirrus Aixon? I wonder if he’s met your expectations?”
Is Leo a lil freaky? Lmao
