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“Thank you so much,” the woman repeated for probably the tenth time, but Kaila did not mind. In fact, she was quite fond of gratitude.
“Don’t mention it. Try to make sure to pay better attention in the future,” she said, feigning modesty. She patted the head of the small arachne she’d just pulled from the water. Though in all honesty, she wasn’t exactly that much shorter than Kaila herself. “The stream is too wide to swing across.”
The child pouted at that, but her mother indulgently nodded. “Again, I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to pay better attention in the future.”
Kaila held up her hand. “I’m just glad I was there to help.”
She waved and said her goodbyes to the pair and dove down the cliffs and back into the water. Her heart still beat fast and her cheeks were flush with exhilaration as the chill water of the Coldstream enveloped her. The pair of Arachne quickly disappeared in the distance as she started once more carefully watching for signs that anyone else was in need of support.
Of course the stream was not all that wide this close to its source, but trying to swing across seemed like a foolhardy endeavour for a young arachne who did not know how to swim. Could arachne even learn to swim? Kaila could not honestly say that she knew. The rocky escarpments made getting out even more difficult. Still, nothing bad happened in the end and perhaps the child would learn to be more careful around water in the future.
Floating downriver, Kaila enjoyed the feeling of the chill water flowing over her tail, her webbed hands and feet. She reminisced about her latest trip. With the little arachne, the count was up to five now. Even if the other four hadn’t been in immediate danger of drowning, knowing that they’d remember her and how she helped them made Kaila feel good.
She contemplated finishing her trip and visiting back home. Perhaps it was the arachne’s exuberance at being safely reunited with her daughter, but Kaila felt a strong need to see her family. They may not be adept at big emotional displays, or adept at displaying emotions at all, but they were her family still. How long had it been since her last visit? One month? Perhaps two? She closed her eyes and imagined the murky waters of Loch Tana. Seeing some of her friends again would be nice as well.
“Hello? Anyone?” A faint voice drifted on the wind. Kaila paused and opened her eyes and listened carefully. Was that…?
"Really need some help here." The same voice came drifting faintly on the wind and she was barely able to make it out.
She righted herself and quickly swam towards the river bank. Two in just one day! Her heartbeat quickened once more. And what’s more, that voice had sounded deep.
She scanned the rocky river’s edge and quickly found a place where she could climb out of the gorge. Once she reached the top, she pulled her spear out the loop that fastened it to her back as her wet feet slapped the rocky ground. Just as a precaution of course. Why’d she have to feel so much more cumbersome on land? With that thought, she moved quickly in the rough direction the voice had come from. She stopped occasionally to listen, but didn’t catch any further calls as she moved in between the trees.
“Say something if you can hear me,” Kaila called eventually and listened carefully.
“Here,” the voice answered from somewhere close by.
Kaila picked her way through bushes and trees and finally found the source of the voice. And what a source it was. Her ears had not betrayed her. Hanging upside down and in all his naked glory was an actual man. Kaila took a moment to appreciate (stare at) his naked butt before clearing her throat. “How’d you end up there?”
The man jerked and tried to turn himself around. He hung about 1.5 meters off the ground with one leg caught in a snare. “I… Well…. I mean… I’ll be honest. I’m a bit stumped how I ended up here,” he explained. “I promise I don’t usually run around the naked outside. I’d really appreciate…” he abruptly cut off as he had finally managed to swing around enough to take a look at Kaila. On his face Kaila could read his brain furiously trying and failing to put the pieces into place.
“Let’s get you down there for now,” Kaila suggested and the man nodded. She imagined he might have gone pale had he not been suspended upside down.
She moved to where the rope was tied around the tree and warned the man to brace as she brought her spear’s blade to bear. In spite of her warning, the man let out a high-pitched yip as he fell to the ground. He quickly rose to his feet and by the lords, he was tall. Kaila knew that she was diminutive at best, but this man towering above her awoke some interesting feelings inside her that she was more than eager to explore. He looked at her and seemed like he did not quite know what to say. Meanwhile, she couldn’t decide where to look between his handsome face and his free hanging cock. A decision that became much easier when he noticed her staring and gingerly covered up with his hands.
“I ehmm… Well, I was wondering where I was, but I seem to have lost my way a bit more than I thought.”
“Indeed,” Kaila agreed and returned to silently stare at the man.
What are you doing? There’s a man right here. This is not the time to start emulating your mother!
“I’m Kaila,” she introduced herself. “I heard you from the river and came to rescue you.”
“Rescue?” The man asked. “Well I suppose… . You can call me Jackson. Please don’t take this the wrong way but, where the hell am I and… well, what exactly are you?”
“You’re just a bit off from the Coldstream in Elizabeth, about 10 km upriver from Aberfeldy and the River Tee.” Kaila explained. When there was no recognition in his face she shrugged. “But I suppose that wouldn’t help you much. I’m a sahuagin, by the way.”
“Sahuagin?” he asked, his brow furrowed with scepticism. “Aren’t those supposed to be like… fish people?”
“Let me have a look at you, and then I’ll answer all your questions,” Kaila suggested, shooting a critical look at his scraped up knees and a trickle of dried blood on his thigh.
To her delight, he let her to come closer without further questioning and allowed her to first examine him and then apply a light bandage to his thigh. Regrettably, he was quite vigilant in covering himself up so she could not so much as sneak another peak. While she worked, she explained in some more detail who she was and where they were. It quickly became clear to the both of them though that all of this only served to deepen his confusion. To Kaila, it was readily apparent that Jackson was one of those otherworlders that people often spoke of and you could occasionally meet, especially in larger towns.
While she did her work and talked to him she thought furiously on how best to make her move on the man. Mamono or not, she didn’t want to just rape him, but she also did not know how courtship worked where he was from. She didn’t know where he was from either, but before she could steer the conversation in that direction, her sensitive ears picked up the sounds of hoofs.
She clicked her tongue and chided herself for not moving the two of them away from the snare. “Get behind me,” she instructed the man and was once more gladdened when he followed her words and got behind her, though they must surely have looked comical with how much he towered above her. She gripped her spear tightly as she anxiously awaited whoever it was and hoped that they would be reasonable. She was much more adept and comfortable at using it to skewer fish, but with a prize like that on the line, she could not exactly afford to be meek.
After a tense minute, a tall and muscular centaur rounded a large tree. Her eyes went from Kaila, to the man and to the cut rope of the snare she had no doubt laid. A wave of careful optimism ran through Kaila as she recognized the woman.
“Fancy seeing you here Alicia.”
“Kaila,” the centaur nodded. “That’s quite a thing you pulled out of my snare there.”
“Quite,” Kaila agreed.
“You know how the law goes with game and snares, yes?” Alicia asked.
“Surely, you wouldn’t refer to a man as game?” Kaila suggested.
Alicia’s jaw worked intensely as her gaze shifted between Kaila and Jackson.
“Excuse my choice of words here, but what the fuck is going on?” Jackson interjected.
“Hush,” both women said in reply.
“What gives Alicia?” Kaila demanded. “You got a husband already, don’t you?”
The centaur shifted her calculating gaze from the man back to Kaila. “Sure do. But I got daughters as you know.”
“You mean like Maddie? Who’s flank I pulled an arrow out of?” Kaila was not fond of emotional blackmail, but if not now, when was the time to put her foot down? Knowing Alicia’s penchant for fair play, surely she could not resist such a potent argument?
Alicia’s mouth twisted into an unhappy visage and her tail swished back and forth in obvious agitation, but she finally gave a reserved nod. “It’s fair enough. You got to him first. The other girls in Aberfeldy would stone me if I tried to screw you over I reckon.” Kaila breathed a sigh of relief at hearing those words. Rarely had she been so glad of all the goodwill she’d accrued over the years. “Why don’t you stay as my guests while you get him settled in?” Alicia finally suggested. She seemed to have determined his status much quicker than Kaila had.
Kaila considered the offer. Perhaps she was hoping her daughters would work their charms on Jackson and seduce him after all. Or perhaps the offer was genuine. “What do you think?” she asked the man, hoping that he would appreciate being asked for input.
“Honestly? I would really like to get somewhere warm and cover up,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Think there’s a chance of finding me a pair of pants?”
The centaur gave a wry smile and answered. “I suppose a pair of pants would be the least I could offer as a wedding gift.”
“Wedding?” Jackson asked as Kaila felt her cheeks redden.