Somewhere Down this Road

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, laughing. However, his grin turned into a rather stern look once Kitai had rolled on top of him. He let out a long sigh and grabbed one of her hands, rubbing her index finger with his thumb.

((NO. MUSE. =A=))

((*tempted to throw someone in to interrupt*))

"What's wrong?" Kitai asked upon hearing Yoko sigh and seeing the change in his expression. She brushed some of his hair out of his face and leaned down to give him another kiss. "Did Hel find out you were gone?" She didn't know if he would be able to tell a thing like that immediately, but she hoped that it wasn't the case.

"No," he replied after breaking their kiss. He smiled lightly and reached up to cup the side of her face in his hand. He opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped when he heard the sound of someone approaching. He quickly sat up, wrapping a protective arm around Kitai as he looked back over his shoulder at the white and gray form that emerged.

Kitai was surprised when Yoko suddenly sat up and wrapped an arm around her until she saw what it was that had startled him. Ohshit, she thought. Akaelin was the very last person that she wanted to run into right now. She should have been paying more attention to their surroundings so she could have gotten away.....but he would probably have caught Yoko's scent anyway. Even though Yoko was the one wrapping his arm around her, she positioned herself more between Yoko and Akaelin, ears going flat to her head.

He didn't want Kitai caught between him and Akaelin. Knowing the wolf he would tear right through her to get to him. So he wiggled out from underneath Kitai, setting her at his feet and moving around to meet Akaelin. "Hey Akae," he mumbled with a light smile. "It's been awhile."

Akaelin shifted form, glowering at his older brother. "Don't fucking talk to me. Don't talk to me like you're something other than the avaricious monster you are." And Kitai. . . she was no better, not only for actually loving him but for keeping his children too. He smiled though, as he looked back at Yoko. "Still, this is a rather nice reunion. You, me, and Kitai, who I know you won't let fight," he mused. Sever the head. That was all he would need to do.

Kitai stood up and moved to be by Yoko again. She let out a little growl at Akaelin's words. Pregnant or not, there was no fucking way that she was going to let her beloved's brother hurt him.

"I'll fight if you fight," she said to the pack leader. Her hand instinctively drifted to the hilt of her sword. If Yoko was going to die it wouldn't be here. It wouldn't be at the hands of his brother with no one around but her. She wouldn't see him die. She wouldn't let him die. Her tail lashed back and forth as she waited to see what Akaelin would do.

If Akaelin had been in human form his grin would've been borderlining malicious. Instead, he licked his maw, pulling his lips back in a toothy snarl. He would do it. He would run right through her if he had to. Though he knew he wouldn't have to worry about that. As if Yoko would let her fight. No. . this was between the two of them and the two of them alone.

Yoko rested a hand on Kitais shoulder, lowering his head to whisper into her ear. "There's a long leather pouch inside of the mares saddle bag," he muttered, refering to Haldis. "She should still be by the tent. I need you to get it for me."

He knew very well that Haldis wouldn't be by the tent. She liked to wander around too much, her attention span equaling that of her masters. . . or a goldfish. . . whichever was worse.

Kitai moved cautiously away from Yoko after he whispered to her, watching Akaelin the whole time. She had a feeling that the wolf would attack as soon as she left, but perhaps whatever it was would let Yoko defend himself against his brother.

"All right," she said with a nod. Kitai backed up a few more steps before turning tail and running back in the direction they came from as fast as she could. Though Jan had warned her about the possible dangers of shifting forms while carrying the twins, she figured it would be okay if she didn't change anything that would affect them. To increase her speed the werewolf spread more wolfish features up her arms and legs, altering her spine just a bit so she could alternately run on two or four legs. Rather than assuming that the horse would have stayed by the tent without being tied up, Kitai instead caught onto its scent and followed that until she found Haldis. Digging quickly through the saddlebag, she found the leather pouch that Yoko had spoken of and started running back.

Akaelin circled Yoko, the fox turning constantly so that the wolf was never at his back at any given point. 'You did that on purpose,' the wolf snickered moving slowly and methoidicly. Gray eyes were fixed on Yoko, predatorial and hungry. "Course I did," he replied lightly. What kind of a person would he be if he let her fight his little brother? Or anyone for that matter.

The wolf stopped in front of him, tail swaying back and forth in a jerky, uneven manner. From his belt he unclipped the small hunting knife Kitai had given him to hold on to. It was the only weapon he had on his person at the moment. He didn't want to use it. He really didn't want to. But as Akaelin looked at him with eyes that only said 'I want you dead' he was worried that he might not have a choice. He wanted for Akaelin to speak, to move, to act, to do something. Anything. But the wolf was perfectly still. Even his tail had stopped moving. Yoko swallowed past the lump in his throat, finally finding his voice again. "Just . .let me walk away Akaelin. I'll. . I'll stop coming if it bothers you this much."

He saw the wolf twitch, as if the words had struck a nerve somewhere in him. Every word Yoko said grated against his nerves. It made him feel disgusted, sick, like he had maggots crawling underneath his skin. His hackles rose, lips pulled back in that snarl once more. He lowered his head as the fox continued to speak nonsense words. Or at least they were nonsense to him.

Yoko stopped talking as Akaelin lunged at him, fangs exposed and aimed naturally for his throat. He had no time to think or dodge. Only to raise the knife up to defend himself from the assault. He heard the wolf yelp as he pushed the smaller body away from him with both one hand and the knife. Akaelin rolled as he was thrown, rising to his paws with the blade now embedded into his right eye. Blood dripped down from the wound, staining grass and fur alike. He half panted half whimpered, lip curling in disgust at the obvious shock on his brothers face. Yeah right. Yoko wasn't in shock. This was revenge for years ago when Akaelin had gouged out the foxs eye. Yes. . . revenge. . . obviously. 'Go,' he panted. Yoko bit down on his bottom lip and took a step towards the wolf. "Akae I'm sorry. Please. . let me help you."

<i>'GO!'</i> the wolf snarled, causing Yoko to step back. 'Go. . . go. . . . go. . .' he seemed to chant, sides heaving, tougne loling. Eventually the fox shifted and sprinted back into the woods, eventually hearing hoof beats as Haldis ran towards him. He shifted back and wrapped his arms around the mares head as she lowered it, nibbling at his shirt as she searched for a nice treat.

Kitai reached the clearing moments after Yoko had left it, her heart beating to hard in her ears for her to have heard his departure. Instead all she saw was Akaelin with the knife in the wolf's right eye. Fear clutched her heart as she realized that it was the hunting knife that she had given to Yoko. So they had fought. Had Yoko been hurt? She knew that she should be worried more about the leader of the Rebellion than someone who was under control of their enemy, but love overrode all logic. Nathifa could heal Akaelin later - Yoko came first.

Without saying a word to Akaelin she turned and ran again, following Yoko's scent. So far she didn't smell any of Yoko's blood, but she needed to see for herself. Kitai only hoped that she could reach him before he had gone.

Akaelin paced back and forth, back and forth, eventually shifting form to pull the blade from his eye. He covered the wound with the heel of his hand, blood seeping down the side of his face. He didn't give the blade a second glance as he dropped it into the ground, walking off to tend to the wound himself.

Yoko had released the horse when he heard Kitai run for him. She had probably seen Akaelin and now thought him some sort of monster or something. He hadn't meant to stab the wolf like that. It was an accident. Just an accident. He dropped the mares reins and pulled Kitai into his arms, burying his face in her hair. "It was an accident," he mumbled.

((short post is short. ouob))

Kitai shifted the rest of herself back to normal and wrapped her arms around Yoko. "I know," she said, refusing to believe that Yoko would ever do something like that intentionally to his brother. Even if they did really not like each other he would never do something malicious like that. She didn't believe that he could. She was selfish like that. Even if he had purposely taken out Akaelin's eye, she would have probably thought he deserved it. After all, the wolf was mated to a goddess who could restore it instantly.

"It's okay," she repeated. "You only did what was necessary to protect yourself. If Akaelin killed you I don't know what I would do - hopefully not what my first reaction would be. Or my second."

He tried to tell himself those very things. But it didn't excuse the fact that he had buried a knife into Akaelins eye. It didn't excuse the fact that he had hurt his little brother. . again. "I have to go now," he breathed, unable to get the wolfs almost insane chanting out of his head. He didn't want to leave though. He wanted to stay and just sit with Kitai. Talk with her about the wonderful life they were going to have together with their children. But at the same time he didn't want to be filled with too much false hope. It wasn't a matter of if he would die. It was a matter of when and how. If Hel didn't kill him, then how long would it be before someone in the Rebellion did?

Kitai sighed and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't want you to do, but I knew that you would have to," she said, holding him tighter. "But promise me that this won't be the last time that I will see you." If he promised her the maybe, just maybe, he could try to make it back. Or try no to die when the two armies inevitably came head to head for their first big battle. There were other ways to end this without killing him. There had to be. Maybe Nathifa and Set could try to lock Hel away in some other dimension rather than killing her? Anything but an option that would kill Yoko.

He hated making promises he wasn't sure if he could keep. For all he knew, Hel could have a replacement Rider waiting at this very moment. But there was no way he was going to tell the werewolf no. And maybe he could eventually come back to see her one more time. Maybe. "It's going to take a lot more than a bunch of norse gods to get rid of me," he replied, grinning slightly. Kitai was going to have to put up with him for just a little while longer at least.

"I would hope so," Kitai replied, ruffling his hair with a smile. Even if Yoko were to die, there were ways to come back. Quill did it twice and Jetta saved Akaelin's life once. However illogical or unlikely things like that were, she refused to let go of any hope. She jumped a little bit as something unexpectedly bumped against her abdomen. . .from the inside. The feeling was foreign since she had never experienced it before, but she immediately knew what it was.

Kitai took one of Yoko's hands and guided it down to her bare midriff. "One of them kicked," she said excitedly, troubles momentarily forgotten.

Yoko laughed as Kitai ruffled his hair. When she jumped, his laugh died down. His smile fell into a frown, eyes concerned. "What's wrong?" he inquired. He became curious when she took one of his hands and guided it down to her abdomen. Was something wrong with the twins? God he hoped not.

"One of them kicked."

His smile returned instantly after that, widening even further than before. He couldn't feel anything against his hand for the moment, but he wasn't disappointed. It was enough for him just to know that they were alright. He kissed the werewolfs forehead, his smile only faltering for that one instant.

Kitai couldn't see Yoko's smile falter for that brief moment, but felt a sadness that Yoko would have to leave in both of them. She brushed some of Yoko's hair that she had messed up out of the way and kissed him before he had to go. It was just then that she felt another nudge from inside of her against the spot where she gently held Yoko's hand.

"They know who you are," she said with a smile. Maybe one of them had just kicked again randomly, but she liked to think that the former was the case.

He felt the little nudge that time, and chuckled at Kitais comment. He would like to think that they knew who he was, but he doub-. . . . no. No he wasn't going to doubt it. Instead he was going to hold on to that little statment and imagine that they really did know who he was. Yoko kissed her again before resting his free hand gently against the side of her face. "Take care of them, okay?" he requested. By take care of them he also meant for Kitai to take care of herself. He pecked her cheek quickly before he hesitantly pulled his hand away from her abdomen and pulled himself up into Haldis' saddle.

Kitai took Yoko's hand and gently pressed it to her cheek, then looked up at him in the saddle. "Take care of yourself too," she said. "There are plenty around here who can protect me, but you're more on your own."

It was finally time, Yoko had to leave. Kitai sighed and let go of his hand. Knowing that he would have had to leave sooner or later didn't help the pain in her heart and the nagging worry that she would never see him alive again. As she wished him well, she felt the air temperature drop a little around them. "Jetta must be coming in," she said. The aravos had sent word that she would be traveling from the tunnels since her work there was done, but she didn't expect that she would be passing near them. Jetta must have been honing into Akaelin's energy or something. The werewolf didn't know the former Society warrior's opinions about Yoko hanging around, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "You better go."

"I'll be alright," he answered. Though whether he was trying to convince himself or convince Kitai was entirely beyond him. He smiled again, but this time was unable to hide the sadness in his eyes at having to leave. "I love you," he breathed, one last smile before he turned Haldis around and sent her into a brisk lope. The sooner he was back in Yggdrasil the better.

"I love you too," Kitai said softly to herself as Yoko and the horse loped out of sight. The chill in the air got stronger, then disappeared. She took this to mean that Jetta had landed in the clearing where Akaelin was and then shifted back to her human form. The werewolf started walking back to the Rebellion's camp at a slow pace, not really wanting to be around other people at the moment.

The steely bird-creatures touched down in the clearing by Akaelin. A ripple passed through the icey, metallic feathers as the form changed back to Jetta's normal shape. She looked at the Rebellion's leader and was surprised to see that he had a fresh wound in his right eye. "We you attacked?" she asked, that being her first reaction at seeing the blood. But there didn't seem to be any discord in the camp when she had flown over it.

Akaelins hackles rose as Jetta landed, then eventually lay flat after a moment or two. "Yoko was here," he mumbled in response, the heel of his hand still dug into his eye. He didn't feel like explaining any more than that. He had attacked, and the fox had stabbed him in the eye. It was as simple as that.

"And?" Jetta asked. "It didn't exactly look like he laid waste to your camp."

If Yoko had come here, then it probably meant that he had been here to see Kitai if he had come alone. While Jetta knew that the logical thing to do would be to kill the fox, she was unwilling to do it herself. She considered Kitai a friend, and killing Yoko would be just about the highest betrayal for friendship. As for Akaelin, she neither liked nor disliked him. It was just her duty as the representative for the Society force that fought with the Rebellion to inform him that she had arrived.

He twitched, grinding his teeth together. "Kill him. Kill Hel. Get this whole fucking thing over with sooner rather than later." Why was he the only one who saw it that way? That thousands of lives could be saved at the price of one. Even though Yoko dying wouldn't mean anything to Akaelin other than that a celebration would be in order. But no, apparently he was the only person who had a decent head on their shoulders around here.