: We Want To Help

Kayda stared at the two men cautiously. At first, she tried to hide her presence and hoped they would just leave without even bothering to look at her but her pleas were unheard when the cold man in black met her eyes.

And soon the cat-like man followed his partner's gaze and saw her too. Giving up on hiding, she openly showed her hostility by snarling while baring her fangs.

At first, they only looked at her and quietly talked back and forth but then the cat-like man said something and then slowly started to walk towards her while talking in a mellow and soothing voice. She couldn't understand the language and continued to bare her fangs while snarling and hissing.

He slowly got closer with his hands raised, showing he didn't hold anything as a sign of goodwill. He didn't stop talking and slowly reached his hand out towards her. When his hand got to close, she lunged out with her fangs, making him jump back. And he ended up looking like he was just crushed, losing all hope.

Earlier when Dimitri and Clouse had seen her, they had both been surprised. They didn't notice her presence at all and it was only when they both looked at her did she start to go on the defensive. Growling at them like a wild animal.

Quickly looking her over, they both noticed the excessive amount of blood and fresh wounds on her body. And knew exactly what happened.

"I haven't seen a beastkin like her before. I don't know what she is." Clouse knew a lot more about beastkin than others but he had never seen her species before which slightly baffled him.

"She's a Drakin. And she's from the South. So you wouldn't know much about her."

Surprised, Clouse looked at Dimitri. "How did you know that when I didn't even know?" But Dimitri stayed silent resulting in only a sigh from Clouse.

"I'm going to try to get her down. We can't leave her like this. She's just a little girl." Looking at Clouse, Dimitri was silent. Then he looked back at the Drakin snarling at them. "Help her."

Getting the go ahead, Clouse slowly started approaching her with his hands facing up to show he didn't mean any harm.

"It's ok. We're not going to hurt you." Walking a little bit closer, she started hissing and growling in more volume.

"Shh. It's ok. I'm just going to get you down, ok?" Seeing no response or understanding, Clouse tentatively reached his hand out towards the chain. But before he could get close enough, she suddenly lunged out trying to tear at him with her fangs.

Jumping back, Clouse, went back to Dimitri's side with a resigned look like he had just been crushed. Silently looking down at his hands, he hid the slight pain in his eyes before saying something. "Sometimes, when a beastkin goes insane, it reverts back to its primary instincts. Making them lose themselves." Looking back up at the Drakin still snarling with her fangs bared, he sighed. "I think she's too far gone. I don't think I can help."

Dimitri was silent. Staring at the Drakin, Dimitri seemed to think to himself quietly before slightly opening his mouth.

The entire time that Kayda watched them, she didn't let her guard down even a bit. But she was slowly losing strength. She wasn't completely recovered from her earlier state and her mind was exhausted from the strain. When she was just about to let out another deep growl, the man in black opened his mouth.

"We're here to help."

Kayda froze. How long has it been? When was the last time she had heard this language?

Realizing that she had been caught off guard, she started to snarl again in more intensity to compensate for her earlier mistake but her reaction did not go unnoticed in Dimitri's eyes.

Clouse was confused since he didn't understand what his lord had just said and was surprised when he started walking forward towards the Drakin. "Wait, what are you doing? What did you just say?" But he got no response.

Dimitri didn't stop until he was right in front of Kayda. She didn't stop snarling.

"We don't mean any harm. We just want to help."

Once again, he talked in the familiar language. A language that was so lost in her memory that she almost forgot about it. But she couldn't just believe him because he spoke it. She wasn't naive. She noticed how he looked at her when she was caught off guard. He noticed. Even if she continued to pretend now, it wouldn't get her anywhere.

Slowly, the fierce and wild air around disappeared. It went quiet once her snarling stopped and her eyes were no longer feral and wild.

As Dimitri looked into her eyes, he saw how she changed from a beast to the intelligent and ruthless person before him. She didn't let her guard down, it was raised even more than before. And everything was calm.

Kayda stared at him. Her eyes blazing with distrust and apprehension.

After what seemed like a while, Kayda's lips slowly turned up into a deprecated smirk deprived of any emotion.

"I don't need your so called help." She hissed. Her voice was hoarse and dry, sounding unpleasant and painful. But she didn't care.

She only wanted to get the message across. She didn't need help. And there was no way she would accept it from a man who had suddenly appeared out of thin air and decapitated a person with a single sword stroke.

She wouldn't make that mistake.

Clouse on the other hand was in turmoil on the inside watching this whole scene unfold right before him. How did he not notice she was just acting? He's the beastkin expert in this group, ok? He needed to be better at just one thing than his lord or he would be completely useless.

Ignoring Clouse's inner turmoil, Dimitri continued to put all his attention on the girl in front of him.

"Your current situation seems to conflict with your words." Dimitri looked at Kayda, not breaking eye contact.

She was still hung on the wall like a doll on explay. It didn't seem like there was any plausible way out for her without hurting herself.

Seeing his eyes on her, Kayda let out an irritated growl. She could see his doubt. But that was all she could see. Doubt.

With her plentiful experience with humans, she usually saw expressions containing disgust, hate, lust, and gloating.

The only explanation for his look of doubt, and only doubt, was that he was one of those types.

The type of humans that hid their emotions from those around them, containing them behind a mask making them unable to be read or appraised.

And that only made Kayda more cautious.

Seeing the little beast before him showing her emotions so blatantly on her face, he wondered how she hid herself till now.

And seeing the all to familiar streak of stubbornness in her eyes, he could only let out an irritated sigh.

Running a gloved hand through his black raven hair, he looked at her as the wheels turned in his head.

He wasn't a saint, in fact, he could turn his back and leave her without a second thought and he could still get a full nights sleep as it wouldn't even weigh an ounce on his conscience.

His only goal was to come, kill the pig count, and leave without a trace as the place was razed to the ground.

That was it. So why in the world was he stopping to have an argument with this thin helpless creature before him?

All the while, Kayda just silently watched as Dimitri was stuck in his own thoughts.