Maybe Friends?

The silence was deafening, and Rumius was almost glad when she signed and nodded. He had too many questions, but all that could wait. It wasn't the time, and more important questions came first. 

"So? What do you intend to do?" 

The white furred fox girl swiveled up, seemingly in disbelief at his question. 

Rumius continued. 

"So? I mean.. you don't actually intend to be caught again, right? Any plans of escape?" He asked impatiently. 

Her mouth was hanging open by now. Rumius suddenly had a random thought asking if all Demihumans were like her, only having animal-formed ears and tails. 

"You mean…you will still help me?" 

"Well..yeah. What else did you expect me to say?"

"But…" Diana stuttered. 

"I'm a Demihuman! And an escaped one at that!" She protested.

"Well, yes.. I can see that." 

"Shouldn't you be going against me?" 

Rumius frowned.

"You're asking if I should help the slavers put you back in chains? Why would I do that?" 

When he saw how tense her body still was, and the creases in her forehead as her eyebrows scrunched up in uncertainty, Rumius just couldn't help but sign. Were all girls this hard to persuade?

"Not all humans support slavery, you know?" He said, exasperated. 

Without the king's decree, I'm sure Ma-I mean, the Lord would never permit such despicable acts to happen."

Diana became silent. 

"I-Is that true?" 

"I'm sure of it." Rumius said, to which Diana began to nod. 

She looked up and looked into his eyes, her beautiful yellow irises searching his emerald greens. She nodded again, but with finality this time.

 "Okay…I believe you." 

"Thank you."

"I won't let you down." He assured.

Rumius sat down and started thinking. 

"So…what do you plan to do? Getting out of the city gates will be hard but.. I think it might be doable. If not then-." 

"There's no need for that. Getting out isn't a problem." Getting out isn't a problem."

For a moment, Rumius was taken aback. 

" What do you mean "won't be a problem"? Isn't that going to be the hardest part? You want to get out of here right?" 

Diana nodded: "I do. But I don't need to do it myself. There are.…might be rescuers here to get me." 

Rumius's lips parted in surprise at the new information. That made things easier. Rumius's mind went back to the Demihuman warrior that he had seen on the streets a couple of hours before. He brought it up. Too unthinkingly it had seemed.

Diana's face became dark as he raised the topic. She bit down on her lower lip. She often fell into that pattern whenever she was feeling upset or overwhelmed.

" I think she was one of them." Diana said. Rumius took the cue not to say anymore on the subject. 

" So? How do you intend to get their attention?" He asked, to which she pointed out the window to the bell tower. 

" That's the second highest position in town right? I'll just get up there and howl. Any Beastman in the city will know immediately." 

She said it so matter of factly that Rumius couldn't help but believe her for a moment. But doubts quickly came.

"What? What kind of plan is that?" 

Diana cocked her head slightly to a side and fixed him with a strange look. 

"What do you mean? Unless you have a better idea to attract the attention of the Beastmen in the city. 

Rumius had to admit that he didn't. Diana grinned smugly. 

"Your worries are unfounded!" She declared while smiling. "There is no way Beastmen will be slower than humans. They'll be here in the blink of an eye." Her smile seemed so absolutely certain, but Rumius still had doubts. 

" But by doing so…you'll also attract the attention of every human in the city. And when your rescuers arrive, you will also expose them as well. Then, wouldn't that make your escape a lot harder?" 

Rumius didn't even realise that Diana wasn't saying anything as he went on critiquing.

" Furthermore, it would be risky to think that your captors would let their prey out of plain sight. The protection of the church would deter most, but..given who we were facing, some would just choose to ask for forgiveness later than for permission." 

"A blast of magic or a net would have us on the ground before we have any chances of escaping." 

Rumius looked up.

Diana was biting so hard on her lower lip that he was genuinely afraid that she might tear it off. Her hands balled tightly into fists and her shoulders shook. She wasn't looking at him. 

"Oh my god I'm so sorry! " 

"I'm so sorry. It's my fault. Uhh...oh please don't cry." 

Small, clear droplets fell from her eyes as she started sniffing and wiping them away with her hands. 

Rumius reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. As he handed it to the girl, he silently sent a silent thank you to his Maman and Rennie, who always insisted that he build this ridiculous and useless habit. Turns out, it wasn't so useless after all. 

Diana accepted the cloth and brought it to her eyes, then her nose blew into it as Rumius watched on. Unsure of what to say, or do, or…move. Diana's sniffing filled the uncomfortable silence in the room. 

Her eyes held a ashamed look as she looked at him. Her voice was soft, but Rumius was thankful that he had managed to catch it. 

" Then…? Do you…any bet-better idea?" 

Inside his heart, Rumius breathed a deep sigh of relief. But his heart caught midway when he realised that he, in fact, did not have any better ideas. 

He'd criticised Diana's ideas to the point of making her cry….and now he had nothing to offer? 

Rumius's wanted to bury himself in a hole. 

"I…I've got nothing either." He said helplessly.

Rumius looked down, afraid to look up at Diana's gaze when suddenly, a sharp bark of laughter sounded in his ears. 

"Pffft.. hahahah what? Seriously?" 

" This guy, hahaha!" 

Rumius was stunned to see Diana holding her stomach as she burst into laughter, the sound floating through the air like a melody. She wiped her tears. " Hahaha, honestly, what is wrong with you?" 

Rumius kept silent, but his heart bloomed and a smile crept up up his face. A fuzzy, warm feeling nestled itself inside snugly in his chest. 

" Haahh… but in all seriousness, I think you're right. My plan wasn't very good." Diana admitted.

" To be honest, it's my first time away from home. I…..ran away actually. I felt that there was nothing for me there so I took a horse and sped away in the dead of night, with no supplies, mind you. I'm….not really a master at this." She shared.

" Well.. for not being a master at this, I think you've made it pretty far." 

She looked up, and Rumius could see a desperate hope in her eyes. But that was fine. Rumius saw no reason to hold back anything. 

" Really?"

" Really." 

She smiled.

" …Thanks"

The two of them remained silent, enjoying the atmosphere when Diana said:

" Well, that said, how are we going to get out of here?"

" You were absolutely right when you said all those things. They were horrible, though." She poked playfully. 

Rumius grinned and purposely ignored the taunt. 

" So essentially, we need to make a sound that humans can 't hear but only beastmen can, right?"

" Can you make a sound like that?" He asked.

" Pfft. Can you make a sound like that?" She shot back. 

Rumius rolled his eyes and placed a hand to his chin, thinking. 

' A sound that beastmen can hear…but humans can't. What kind of sound would that be?' He fell into deep thought.

' Hmm….sounds.... hearing….. ears….' 

Rumius eyed Diana who had sat down cross legged across him. He noticed how her ears seemed to periodically twitch the longer he stared at them.

" Ears… ears... difference in…their ears?" 

It was like a bulb had suddenly gone off in his head as Rumius shot to his feet, startling the beastman across him who immediatelybounded to her feet like a startled cat. 

" What? What is it? " she asked, her eyes looking around. 

Rumius turned to her.

" It's ears! It's a difference in ears!" He said excitedly.

Understandably, she looked at him like he was crazy. 

" What?"