I wrinkled my nose. “This isn’t the only stream, I’m sure.”
“You start with one. Tributaries and cross streams are easier to follow than blindly ambling through,” she said with a confidence I’d already come to trust. Despite our differences, I found myself enjoying my time with her more and more with each passing hour. We’d found the box, and we’d hopefully find Socks, but I didn’t want our journey to end there.
I took a few more seconds to catch my breath before rising. I’d made the offer to her though. All I could do was make it once more when we found Socks. Fate would have to handle the rest.
Kali waited, poised to move. She glanced around the trees like she clocked details I wasn’t aware of. I could gauge a lot about foraging, herbalism, and more in that vein, but I was rubbish at this whole tracking business. At home, Socks always ended up scampering back when she went on her jaunts. This was new territory, as she had no…place to scamper back to that was in this area.
“This way.” Kali headed east along the bank. The constant hum of the stream beside us was soothing as we trekked along, the air quieter in the wake of the mad rush we’d gone through. The occasional bird call or rustle in the bushes infiltrated, but it was part of the forest’s normal melody.
“What do pagwai like to eat?” she asked as we moseyed along the stream.
“Well, they’re a big fan of jewelberries, which is how I ended up finding Socks in the first place,” I said. “Little rascal was climbing up my bushes, helping herself to as much as she wanted. When I caught her in the act, she didn’t rush away. No, she cast me an uninterested glance and kept on eating, ignoring the fact I loomed over her.”
Kali snorted. “Sounds like a sassy little thing.”
“She’s the best.” I beamed. “I don’t do well by myself, so she was a huge comfort after my parents moved outside of the commune. Honestly, it still feels odd there without them in the mess.”
“We’ll find her,” Kali promised, her gaze meeting mine. “This is the sort of thing I’m good at.”
“I’m seeing that.” I jerked a thumb at the box. “Though, Dynlan seemed to be a bit scattered in approach as well.”
“They’ve been that way the whole time,” Kali muttered. “Stories traveled of them rushing through towns, knocking over stalls at the market. With the way you were haphazardly bumbling around, I thought you might be them.”
“Well, I’m not exactly sad you kidnapped me,” I teased, meeting her gaze. She offered a soft smile, one that seemed secret based on their sharp features.
“Best time I’ve had in a long while,” she murmured.
I arched a brow. “Surely, you’re rolling in bed partners. It’s not like you’re limited to the commune like I am. And while people fuck on the commune, things can get a bit messy when everyone’s slept with everyone else.”
Kali snorted. “When you’re a mercenary, there isn’t always the luxury. You don’t get to know people well, and even though you can find a good lay at a bar, there’s the concern they might berelated in some way to your mark and could slit your throat. So I often don’t take the chance.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That sounds lonely.”
“It is.” The distant look in her eyes made my chest squeeze tight. I wanted to offer her space at the commune, offer her the companionship they clearly sought, but would it be too soon? I didn’t want to scare her away either.
“Oh, look,” she said, pointing to the ground ahead. “Pawprints.”
Right. The whole hunting down my pagwai mission.
“Pagwai ones too, multiple sets,” I said, spotting the mess of them by the bank of the stream. Maybe this route wasn’t such a terrible idea after all. Had Socks found other pagwai and made friends? Would she resent me taking away from her newfound buddies? At this point, I wasn’t sure if we’d be doing much strolling at the Everend Market. The detour to hunt down Dynlan and find her had taken the majority of the time I planned on spending at the Midsummer festival.
Though, I didn’t mind at all. Spending time with Kali had been enjoyable, more than I would’ve ever expected from a random mercenary.
“They went this way,” Kali said, hopping over stones to cross the creek. I followed at once, trying not to slip on the moss-covered rocks. My shoes sank into the mud on the other side, making a slorpy sound, and I made as many tracks as the pagwai as we wound our way around a few looming trees and past a mess of bushes. Pagwai sometimes formed colonies, so it wasn’t unheard of for them to run in packs. I’d be so disappointed if we got all the way there only to find that Socks wasn’t among them though. I missed her.
“Do you hear that?” Kali asked, cupping a hand to her ear.
I focused and listened. Chirping sounds echoed through the trees but not that of birds. No, this was the sort of chirping I heard every morning when Socks caterwauled for her breakfast.
My heart rate picked up. Could she be here?
“Socks,” I called out, and Kali thwacked me in the arm.
“Don’t scare the pagwai,” she hissed.
I shrugged. “Socks knows the sound of my voice.”
“The others don’t,” Kali said. “And if they create a small stampede, who knows where Socks will end up.”
