John and his small group were now walking in the dark forest inhabited by the avians, after traversing a few miles in the direction of the aviary. Occasionally running into a few rabids along the way, which were easily dealt with and expelled of life. By now, Iris walked next to the man, giving him an occasional curious glance.
"So... you have more than one girlfriend yes?" the panther asked with a small chuckle, finally deciding to bring it up.
John glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow. "In a sense yeah, I guess I do." he chuckled, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh y'know... curiosity." Iris replied with a shrug, laughing awkwardly. "I know I know, curiosity killed the cat and all that, but... this isn't something you see everyday." she added, but... deep down... she didn't want to admit that she saw him having sex with Ren and Mia on the cabin porch, and enjoyed the sight.
"Heh, I get it." John replied with amusement, rolling his eyes. "Well yeah, I have multiple... partners." he chuckled.
"And some of them are missing huh?" Iris asked curiously, glancing up to the man. "I saw that other wolf girl change into that... monster. I tried to follow her when she ran off but... she was way too fast for me. I'm sorry."
John was surprised when Iris admitted she witnessed that, and sighed. "I don't know what happened to her, but... I'll find her. Nobody's hurting her in that form anyway." he replied, surprisingly calm about the situation.
"Yeah, I don't think even F.E.O could stop her in that form." Iris replied, clearly just trying to give the man even more reason not to worry.
He slowly nodded his head with agreement, and let out a sigh. "I hope you're right." he replied softly, "Anyway... tell me more about yourself. You really just been on the road this whole time?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah, I was always too scared to show myself to... anyone really. So I always just kept to myself." Iris responded, her ears flattening slightly. "But the loneliness... it eats you up after a while. Which was why, when I found your group... I chose to watch and decide whether or not I wanted to join you. And now here I am." she explained, finishing her explanation with a small smile.
"Well, we're happy to have you Iris. Welcome to the family." The man replied, kindly placing a hand on the panther's shoulder.
Iris couldn't stop the wide smile from forming on her face, purely from those four simple words that John just spoke. 'Welcome to the family.' It'd been so long since she felt wanted... and welcomed, and she knew she made the right choice in showing herself to these people.
"Th-Thanks." Iris stuttered with a quiet giggle, her cheeks reddening which was thankfully hidden behind her fur.
"John." Bill suddenly called out, interrupting John and Iris's moment. "There it is... took us two years to rebuild it, and it was all for nothin'." He said defeatedly as the destroyed remains of the Aviary became visible in the distance.
The place was completely levelled, reduced to nothing but rubble and littered with the bodies of dead avians who didn't manage to escape on time.
"So... what's the plan?" The gunslinger asked after the group took a moment to look at the destruction.
John surveyed the destruction for a while, clearly saddened by the deceased that littered the place. "Well... if there was blood transfusion equipment here, then it would've been destroyed with the Aviary... so, our only objective now is to find the survivors Iris saw. If we're lucky, they might even have the equipment we need." he replied with a nod of his head, while checking each individual body... somewhat relieved that he didn't see any blue feathers among the dead.
YOU ARE READING
A Changed World - Book II | The Awakening of Darkness
FantasyTwo years have passed since Tristan's hateful attack on John and the furs, but the peace they have lived with comfortably during that time is threatened by the return of an old adversary. Delve back into the story of A Changed World, with the second...
