Pride of Man

Part 3 For The Go

Nala skipped at her friends heels, she was talking to Josh about where they were going to go next.
   Although being the only girl in the group and as well as the newest member, she felt like she had bonded fairly well with everyone here, namely Josh.
   "So the next border is just a few more miles south," Josh explained, "there aren't many people or animals that live in these icy plains so we should be fine."
   Nala smiled, "that's a shame, I wanted to make friends with a few polar bears!" Josh laughed and shook his head. "What?" She asked jokingly, "is it so bad to want to ride a majestic polar bear through the plains?"
   Josh laughed again, she was good at making him laugh. "When I think 'majestic', the last thing on my mind is bears." He said.
   She playfully punched him, "you don't know grace when you see it!"
   Josh rolled his eyes, they were coming upon a small hill. It was caped with a thin layer of ice that would soon milt when warmer weather comes around.
   "We are entering human territory now," Liken reminded them, "act casually."
   Nala started to walk like a rooster and 'bawk' like a chicken, "bawk bawk bawk!" She joked with a goofy face, Marsh and Josh started to laugh very hard but Liken was not as impressed.
   "Ha. Ha." He laughed with disinterest, "But I'm serious, I don't want any of you guys getting hurt."
   Liken can be uptight, but he was right. She didn't like the idea of falling by the hands of humans, she never had a good history with them.
   Before she was born, her human father had fallen in love her Kitsune mother. They ended up getting married and eventually having her. Unfortunately, when the other villagers found out their secret they so desperately tried to hide, they were both executed. Before this though, her mother gave her to a friend of hers to take care of. She grew up with the burden of being half human and she wasn't fond of her past, although she tried to live a normal life.
   The smell of the human village filled her nostrils and she flinched, humans were never very good at keeping their surroundings particularly clean.
   "It smells like Jeffrus here," Liken commented, hands over his nose and mouth. "I'm pretty sure they have animal repellent around the outskirts of this land."
   Nala continued to look into the city, "that can explain why there are no polar bears..."
   Josh spat at the ground, "forget this, I'm going around."
   Before Josh could walk off, Marsh grabbed his shoulder, "that will take too long! If we want to make it to the border by sundown, we need to go through the city."
   Josh sighed, regaining his stubborn trait. Nala knew Josh had always been a good person, he would joke around a lot with her and overall let loose. However, Josh did have the tendency to be ignorant and stubborn at times.
   "Fine." Josh responded, "but I swear, I'm buying a gas mask."
   Liken rolled his eyes, "yeah, and that's not suspicious at all!"
   Liken motioned for everyone to follow with a tilt of his head. They waded through the foul smell of the repellent,  eager to get through the city as fast as possible.