Arkay could hear whimpering.
The sound was coming from a small clearing in the forest. Fallen leaves covered the ground, and a weak sun shined through the empty branches above. But the clearing was lacking in leaves, showing open ground, with dew-coated grass. On a closer inspection, something was moving in the middle of it.
Arkay drew his weapon, his beloved silver blade, and inched closer. This was pure Thanatian territory, there could have been traps anywhere. And hungry Thanatians. They were always a problem as well.
But as Arkay approached, he realised that there was no one else around, apart from the being laying on the ground. No unusual scents, no footsteps or sounds of breathing, and certainly nothing visible. The clearing had clearly held some sort of trap, but it must have been abandoned. The being in the trap had fallen silent, perhaps aware that Arkay was present.
“Are you alright?” Arkay finally asked.
The creature squeaked with excitement, then tried to get up. They were constrained by a heavy net.
“You’re like me!” it whimpered.
Arkay shrugged, then started cutting at the net, pulling it off the creature. The being in question was clearly a Rethan, no larger than Arkay. Their skin was pale grey, almost silver in cover, but their armour was crystal-like, sparkling in various shades of green. On their back was a brilliant pair of bright green wings.
“Thank you,” the Rethan continued to whimper as Arkay freed it.
“You’re welcome,” Arkay was unsure what else to say. He’d always thought that winged Rethans were rare, but he’d seen so many of them since he’d been on Portalia. Not just bio-psionic wing users like his brothers, but Rethans with genuine wings. The same sort of wings Arkay used to have.
Free from the net, the Rethan struggled to their feet, then threw their arms around Arkay.
“I owe you my life,” the Rethan smiled as they let go of Arkay.
“No you don’t!” Arkay immediately replied. “I was just doing my duty. I’m sure you would have done the same to me if I’d been in that net.”
“I do though! You saved my life! You’re like, my wingless angel!” The Rethan paused, then ran their hands down Arkay’s back. “You used to have wings. Real ones. Like my wings.”
Arkay growled as he pushed the other Rethan away. He may have just saved their life, but he was beginning to feel violated by their touchy-feely attitude. As he did so though, he quickly regretted it.
“Did I upset you?” the Rethan asked.
“I… uh… It’s complicated,” Arkay tried to explain. “But you, what are you doing out here? This whole area is dangerous for normal Rethans!”
The Rethan tutted. “I live here, dummy. Normally I’m more careful though. Had to duck down here to avoid a Thraki and landed in this old trap. But now you’re here, we can be partners!”
Arkay backed away slowly, dagger in hand just in case. “I think I need to take you to a hospital. You’ve bashed your head or something. Are you registered?”
“What?”
“Are you a registered Rethan or am I going to have to fill out a large number of forms to get you registered?”
“I don’t follow. Can we be partners?”
Arkay growled again. “No. We can’t be partners. I don’t even know your damn name! I’m going to assume you’re not registered, do you know who your parents are?”
The Rethan fell silent. The mention of family seemed to make them upset. Arkay decided to change the subject, since he was pretty sure the Rethan had some sort of concussion.
“Alright, forget about that. You’ve hurt your head, I’m going to take you to a hospital and get you all healed up. Understand?”
The Rethan perked up. “Sure! My name’s Fanati!”
Arkay took Fanati by the hand and started leading him out the forest, back towards civilization. “My name’s Arkay.”
“That’s a pretty name. I think we’re going to be good friends!”
“If you say so…”