Chapter 35: Not as Straight

"Fuck!" Screamed the young huma, who was running from a gargatuan creature- A fanged best! He learned that from his dad, who had him and his siblings read endless books about many things, he liked it but his siblings hated it!

They just wanted to train and fget stronger to become part of the "Resistance", so they could fight alongside their father.

"Jogîx!" Came the cry of worry of his sister Ajax, who stared in fear at the giant behemoth of a fanged beast- The ceature was a large black horned creature, closely resembling a Minotaur but bigger and more furious than one could possibly be- Seeing as most Minotaurs are in fact, really chill. "Ajax!" Hearing his brother's voice, Ajax turned to look just as Nôx jumped towards the beast, knowing very well what he wanted ot do, she pulled the string of her bow and let an arrow fly free towards the left eye of the creature.

It literally hit the bull's eye, since this creature was pretty much a bull + gorilla combo that was way stronger than them.

The beast ran in all fours and could not dodge the rrow as it sank deeply into it's eye sockets, the roared in pain and anger as Nôx's feet kicked the arrow, making it sink further, trying to kill the beast by destroying it's brain- Which did not work, only making the beast whimper away in pain before reacting angrily- It opened it's mouth and a sudden lightning bolt hit his brother Nôx.

It was sudden, it was fast, it was strong- His brother was out cold in that instant.

Jogîx reacted instantly, his legs carried him faster than he thought he could run, adrenaline rushing through his veins as the only objective in his mind right now was to escape this beast with his siblings- With his sword in hand, he jumped and stabbed the beast on the right eye, the blade sank in easier than he thought it would- But he was thrown away, the meaty arm slammed into him, throwing him away, his back hit a tree and he was out cold hearing his sister scream his name.

They were certainly dead now.

Except, they weren't.

Because he opened his eyes only to stare at the unfamiliar ceiling above his head- It was sharp and ragged, just like rock, there was moss and vines coering the entirety of the walls and even ceiling- He himself was lying on a bed of moss and dirt, which was surprisingly comfortable, but the most magical thing around were the floating spheres of light that danced around little trees, darting around and spinning in the air like dancers.

"You're finally awake i see." A deep, masculine voice that sounded deeper than his father's voice, and when he looked up he saw who had spoken to him- the man was tall, buff, and had a very beautiful beard on his face- I mean, he was cool i guess! "W-where am i?" Jogîx groaned as his head was killing him, he had the worst migraine of his entire life- His eyes darted around the room seeking sight of siblings, and when he found none of the, his mind already made several scenarios where they both died a terrible death before this guy could get there- Wait, did this guy save him?

"Who are you?" HIs own voice was a little hoarse, but he still could speak thankfully. The taller, older man smiled down at him, which certainly did not make his heart skip a beat shut up, as he gently raise him arm to look at his body and see if there were any other damage that did not heal properly or something like that- Jogîx's ashamed to say this sisn't the first time he's ever experienced something like that. "Well, i'm Náttúrumaður Grænn, and i saved you and your siblings form a ravenous Rajang... What are you three doing in my forest? The human settlement is miles and miles away from here, and yet, i found you three inside a Wild Rajang's territory? No wonder i almost killed you."

The gentle ranting the went on about his wellbeing brought a warm feeling to Jogîx's heart, a small spark of something he didn't know about himself burning bright and big as he kept hearing this man's voice- "Honey?" An even deeper voice, deeper than the man before him, spoke from behind a curtain of vines that hanged from ceiling of the cave "The other two kidsa are awake now, none had any major injuries, should i bring them here?" The tone of voice the other man usedto speak to the man before him somehow reminded him of the way his father talksa bout his mother- With love in his eyes.

And like that, before the spark could become something more, it was put out by the cold reality.

He didn't even notice it, it would take him years to know about his rather very obvious bisexulatiy- But that is for future him to learn.

"Yeah, you can bring them here, Mokza." The look in his eyes was... Bright, bright and clean, and free. Just lik his dad looked at his mother, or so he thought, since she died giving birth to him. "Okay dear." The other man answered and Jogîx saw the man before him humm and smile gently at the curtain of vines. "Just wait a few minutes please." He turned to look at him, smiling sweetly, trying to make him calm down a little bit- he should feel like he's being treated like a kid, he's 16 now, but all he feels is...

Safe.

He felt safe, like eh was being hugged- Which was something strange to think about while looking at a hot- no, looking at an old man, a really old, tall, bearded, muscular... succulent- AH! He got jumpscared by his sister, who just jumped towards him as soon as she came running from behind the curtain of veins, followed closely by their brother and- Holy fuck.

He just stared wide-eyed at the man that had to crouch a little to walk through the stone door, the man was something straight from his dreams, which he certainly would not want to wake up from. "Nátt, dear." the white-haired giant man reached out for the smaller man, pulled him in, and kissed the man's lips- And Jogîx just thought that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as straight as he thougt.