Chapter 4

Greg thought it had been six days.

Could have been more. Sleeping blended with waking, both done in a dreamy haze. So too the blowjobs and inspections of his penis, but those seem to have stopped. Either she had gotten the message, or was tiring him out so he slept right through them. The last he found hard to believe, given his sensitivity and her skill.

He kind of missed it.

Greg's speed through the woods wasn't improving. While yes, his legs were getting the workout of their life, his strength had never been the issue. It was his brain, his mind, which was the problem. Trying to focus on keeping his legs moving in a coordinated manner tired him way before his legs started to feel the pain. Pushing on in a mental haze would cause stumbles, even falls. His curses didn't help. Neither did the path. If, indeed, path there was. Tiana had led them away from the water for the last day or so, but no longer was there even the vestige of a road that he could see. The ground was uneven, roots and rocks common. What attention he was not devoting to just moving was spent looking at the ground just before him, picking a path which would not trip him up. Looking at the scenery was just not in the cards.

Which is why he didn't notice the mountain.

"It gets a little steep here."

Tiana's words brought Greg to a stop. He looked up, a flash of dizziness hitting him as his head moved a little too fast. His eyes took in the view.

"Fuck."

The ground rose before him. He couldn't guess the angle, which varied in any case, but it was just steep enough to cause him despair. Greg knew it was gentle enough that it COULD be done. He couldn't refuse to try without feeling guilty.

Stupid morals.

"I'm sorry," Tiana said, coming over. She put a hand on his shoulder. "We could go around, as there's a pass, but it would take days, and someone might be watching..."

Who those people might be, and why, were still a mystery to him.

She had tried to explain this world, somewhat. His mind only picked up bits and pieces of it, his mental recovery far behind the physical. Something had happened. Something that impacted the rest of the world much more than this location, yet had disrupted the order which had settled over the civilizations here. Crops had failed, populations migrated. Why everyone wasn't here he didn't know, as things seemed fine.

Apart from the people wanting to kill them.

Greg considered taking a rest. He could use a rest. However, would that make this hill any easier to climb?

No.

With a sigh, he grabbed a low tree limb with his left hand and secured his grip on the cane. Time to do this.

Rain.

He knew it was coming. There was always a change in the air, even if you couldn't feel the wind, that told you the possibility of water falling on you was rising. Sometimes nothing happened. The rain would just pass you by, deciding you were not worth its time. More often, it would fall on you when least needed. Like now.

Greg felt the mud under his right foot give way, sliding downward. He swiftly moved his cane up, wedging it behind a tree root. His right foot lifted out of the grass and dirt soup, popping free with a suddenness that had him falling forward. His left arm shot out, looking for support.

Not finding it, he went down.

"Greg!"

Tiana was there a moment later, her tail wrapping around a thin tree as she tried to raise him to his knees. He waved her away.

"Give me a moment." He rested for a moment, adjusted himself, turning around so he faced where they had come from. His butt found purchase on a root, body moving into a somewhat comfortable sitting position. He ran his hands over his body, using the rain to help clear the mud off his skin and shirt. "Have I mentioned I hate falling?"

"A few times." She sat down beside him, movement much more graceful than his. For the hundredth time, he noticed the muscles under her wet, matted fur. He honestly couldn't say if she'd be his type if she were human, but he would definitely be in awe of her body. She had the trim physique of an athlete. "You OK?"

"Yeah." Greg watched as she took off her pack, leaning back against it. Her swords were once again packed away in her bedroll, handles just visible. "Just cold and tired."

She nodded. They silently looked out over the land. If it wasn't for the trees before them, they'd probably still be able to see the city they had passed under. He thought he had glimpsed a bit of it earlier, when they passed over an old rock slide which had cleared out much of the vegetation. They hadn't traveled far. He tried not to think about that.

"What's at the top of this mountain, anyways?"

"It's just a hill."

"Tall hill." Greg turned his head, looking up. "Is there some sort of ledge up there?" From where they were it looked like a break in the slope. Tiana glanced up

"Hmm. Looks like it. We may have to break there, if the rain keeps up. Don't want to kill you."

"No. We don't want that." He sighed. "Well, it doesn't look too far. Only a few hours at this rate. Let's get started."

A tent.

Greg wiped his eyes with his hand. Still a tent. He kept expecting a change when he did that, but so far this world had stubbornly insisted it was real. Actually, there was a small change. He squinted. It wasn't so much a temporary shelter as a building made of some kind of fabric. Large, over six feet high and thirty wide, it dominated the flat plateau cut into the hill. It looked not unlike some of the more extravagant tents he'd seen at home for those who liked to pretend they were roughing it, but actually preferred the comforts of home.

So, not something put up because of the rain.

"Should we try it?" He looked at Tiana. She was frowning. Greg wondered if she was just jealous over the improvement over her small shelter. The sudden worsening of the rain falling on his head made the question moot. He adjusted his stance in the mud. "Well, I'm trying it. Come on."

He started forward. It wasn't until the tenth step or so that he realized this was the first time he had taken the lead, told her to do something. Tried to take the "traditional" male role.

He hoped it didn't piss her off.

The tent looked to be some shade of yellow, water darkening the cloth. It was square-ish, with a peaked roof. A door flap stood before them. Reaching it, he considered. There was no way to knock. A closer look, after again wiping his eyes, showed a bell with a string hanging from it. He pulled.

The creature who pulled the flap open was blond. Her fur almost glowed from the lamp light shining behind her in the doorway. Unlike Tiana, whose black furred face he had come to assume was normal for her race, the stranger had fur of the purest white to contrast with the blond of her body, her nose and ears a dark pink, almost red. Only her eyes mirrored Tiana's, orange, intelligent.

Also, very confused.

He looked down at her, giving what he hoped was interpreted as a smile. She was easily only four and a half feet tall, if that. He would have called her a child, but a sample size of two was not enough to make generalizations about her kind. She wore a simple robe, pink, obviously not expecting visitors. He gave a small bow of his head.

"Sorry to bother you, but could we take shelter from the rain for a bit? It's not as fun anymore."

Her gaze went around him, eyes narrowing. Greg guessed she saw Tiana. He tried to remember how to be social. It had been awhile.

"I'm Greg, and this is Tiana. May we come in?"

The look she gave him was long, contemplating. Slowly, she backed up, still holding the flap open. Giving another bow of his head, Greg hobbled in. Her expression showed this was the first time she noticed the cane. Greg came to a stop on a patch of dry grass.

There were books everywhere.

Bookcases filled the space, made of wooden doweling and seemingly designed to be portable. They were set up away from the canvas walls, back to back for easy access to the valuable contents. The books themselves looked like any hardcovers from home, without the dust jackets. Having gone without reading for almost a week, it felt like heaven.

"Wow."

"What?" Tiana came up beside him, hands brushing water off her fur. He saw her eyes slide over the books as if they weren't there. Obviously, she didn't share his interest. He shrugged.

"Nothing." Greg turned to their host. "Again, I'm sorry to intrude."

She nodded.

"You may dry yourselves with the blanket over there." Her voice was soft, somewhat high pitched. He followed her gesture, and saw Tiana already toweling off. Greg couldn't help a sigh escaping, more of his weight falling on the cane. He saw the danger, straightening and adjusting his stance. Their host cocked her head at him. "Are you hurt?"