Dannyl's frown deepened when Slyth told him of being captured by slavers. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. If I... If I had have maintained control I could have protected you from them, from that. You wouldn't have had to escape anything," he said, the remorse clear in his voice. Every day he regretted what he had done, how he had hurt Slyth. He was a monster, to have raped a child he didn't deserve to live, and definately didn't deserve his forgiveness, no matter how horney his change time had made him.

"I'll make it up to you somehow," he said softly, staring at the ground. "If you need or want me to do anything, anything at all just tell me."

"I want one thing Dannyl." Slyth said with a slight sigh as Dannyl continued to appologize for things he had no reason to appologize for. "I want you to stop blaming yourself for anything that happened to me. The past is past. I am not worried about what happened when I was a slave. Only if the slavers ever try to find me, will I ever have to have a care about anything to do with them. Please just.. focus on now, not then." He said as the cows continued to trudge through the sands. They came up a dune and stopped momentarily as the city was now in sight. It was still quite far, but they could now see it. The cows looked around the ground before going in a large ark around the hidden trap in the ground and continued on.

"I'm not sure if I can just stop," Dannyl said softly. "Not when I know it's my fault. But... I'll try to avoid bringing it up, alright?"

As they rose above the final sand dune, and the town appeared a small smile appeared on Dannyl's face. Not that he welcomed the company of people, he usually tried to find solitude, but it was good that it was near and he would have something else to focus his mind on.

Reaching the outskirts of the town, Dannyl climbed off the cow, allowing it to disappear since it would likely only attract unwanted attention. "Now... For myself at least, I need some cloth for some better fitting clothes, or the clothes themselves but they are generally more expensive, and some thread too. Unless you have sheep in your sanctuary?" He phrased that as a question since if there were sheep he could sheer them and make thread out of that instead. "Then there are at least a couple of basic carving tools. Just to get me started. Will you have enough energy to heal people for those things?" he asked, not knowing what Slyth's stamina levels were like.

Slyth had to let it go. Dannyl would always blame himself, and Slyth couldn't help but partially blame him, dispite what he says. Dannyl wouldn't let it go. "So long as you try to stop then." He said before the two of them fell into silence for the last stretch of sand before getting to the town.

It didn't acctually take to long for them to get there once they caught sight of it. As the cows no longer had to swerve around hidden traps within the sand. Once they reached the town, Slyth got of his cow when Dannyl did and both had dissapeared at the same time. "Hmm, that takes much longer than what i'm used to." He said to himself as he stretched.
"There are two sheep." Slyth said in reply to Dannyl's question, "If you think that may be enough, I could ask them for their hair. But it will be easier just to get everything now." He said as he started making his way into the city. "And don't worry about me. For most injuries, it does not take a whole lot of energy to heal. I'll get us enough for what we need. Lets go find what you want. After we know what is needed, I will find some people to help."

Slyth would have rather gone off to help people and leave Dannyl to search for things, but he was afraid Dannyl would be unable to find him if they seperated. So, he would stay with Dannyl and wait to heal untill after everything was found. "And don't worry. Most people here know me, if I ask them to hold something for us, they will untill we have the money."

"Well, alright then. I don't know how much healing would be worth with a monetary value so hopefully we'll be able to get enough," Dannyl said. He weaved through the crowds, coming first to a clothes store. He browsed through the clothes and chose out two plain white shirts and two pants, as well as a jacket for the cold nights, and some shoes as well. He tried to keep the cost as low as possible, as well as getting what he needs. Making sure those clothes were held, they moved on to the store that sold tools and it was now that Dannyl became like a kid in a toy store. There were plenty of tools that he wanted to buy, things that did all kinds of fancy things, helped with metal inlaying, filigree carving without the risk of splitting, all kinds of things. He settled for the simplest tools though, chisles, hammers, blades, sandpaper and wood-stain. The rest he could work off from his own work. Seeing them though, knowing they would soon be his, made his hands itch to continue his carving.

Instead he turned to Slyth. "Your turn," he said, letting him lead the way for his healling skills since he knew what to do.

Slyth had followed Dannyl around the markets, watching as his friend picked and chose only the cheapest of bare essentials he needed. Slyth would have told him he chose to find the right people to heal, they would have a generous amount of coin in pocket within an hour. But, Slyth wasn't one to simply focus on helping the rich who could not find a doctor well trained enough to heal their illnesses. He ussually asked around and went to help those who could not afford to have a real doctor come to their doors. Now though, he supposed he would have to try both ways. He didn't want to have to stay here to late, and they would have to leave within the next couple of hours to get back to the forest at any decent sort of time.
"Come." He said when Dannyl had finnished. Slyth seemed to simply start wandering. Some people, apparently Slyth knew them, came up and spoke to him. Slyth was always incredibly polite and nice to everyone that came to speak with him. After awhile, Slyth followed a middle aged, middle class woman down some not to crowded streets before they arrived at her home. She would not allow Dannyl in, so Slyth had just asked him to wait outside.

Slyth was only inside for a few minutes before he came outside once more, the woman crying tears of joy as she handed him money. Slyth refused nearly half of what she tried to give him. After a few minutes of quiet bartering, Slyth smiled as he accepted the money and the continued on while the woman went back in to her now cured husband and child. "This should cover at least your shirts." Slyth said as he handed Dannyl the small sack of money with a smile on his face. With the first healing of the night done, Slyth continued on.

They mostly helped the poorer people, getting very little money as Slyth was always so insistant on not taking to much of their money for his help. With some, he took no money. Eventually though, Slyth wandered into the richer neighborhoods. Almost as soon as he arrived on the richer streets a well dressed man headed over to them. Apparently he was waiting for Slyth to come. "Whenever I come here, anyone who is ill always has someone ready to fetch me." Slyth explained to Dannyl as he waited for the man to come to them.

Dannyl frowned a little when the woman refused entry to him and he waited outside for Slyth to do his thing. He wondered why, wondered if he had been here or something. He thought back and then remembered. This was one of the first places he had been to after he became a lycan. It was many years ago now, the woman before him was probably only a baby if she was older than she looked, but stories were passed around and, so soon after his change time, his eyes were still wolf-like, golden with the pupil a vertical slit. It would be a couple of days before they changed colour again. He hoped that wouldn't hinder them at all.

It seemed though, as they went around, those who recognised Dannyl for what he was were calmed by the fact he was accompanied by Slyth, as though they knew he could control him. He smiled at the thought and wondered how the superstitious townspeople would react if he wore a collar and got Slyth to lead him around with a leash. His own pet lycan.

"Whenever I come here, anyone who is ill always has someone ready to fetch me."

"So I see," Dannyl said, impressed. "You're a good person, Slyth. The people here love you." Unlike himself. But he pushed that malicious thought away. One had to earn trust, especially someone like him. Maybe, with time, people could come to respect him as simply a talented craftsman, and not just a dangerous lycan. He hoped so.

Slyth looked to Dannyl, a slight frown on his face, but he had no time to say anything else before the man had reached them and gave Slyth a bow, as if the cow angel was some sort of lord among them. "Please sir, if you are willing, my lord wishes for some of your time." Slyth sighed lightly, as if annoyed but the mans behaviour, but he said nothing about it if he was annoyed. He simply put a smile to his face and gave a nod. "Of course." His voice sounded somewhat.. off. Apparently he didn't like being 'fetched'.

As soon as Slyth had spoken, the man turned around and started heading off towards the larger houses in the middle of the neighborhood. Slyth followed only a few feet behind and let his gaze look over the buildings. He could never understand why humans desired to live in places such as this. He had seen barely any grass and even less tree's since they arrived in town. It was no way for a creature of earth to live.

Eventually, they made it to the large house and were directly taken inside. Slyth was lead off up the large staircase while Dannyl was led into a large living room. There was one other person there. A child jumping from couch to couch, as if playing a game where he could not touch the floors. After Dannyl was seated, the one who had guided him to the room left. Now it was only Dannyl and the child.

As Dannyl followed Slyth, he kept casting looks to him, concerned looks, worried about what might be making him suddenly start acting as though he didn't enjoy what he was doing when before he seemed to take satisfaction out of it. Maybe it was the clientelle, but Dannyl wasn't sure so he kept a close and worried watch.

Entering the house, he rested a hand on Slyth's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Call out or send a little cow to find me if you need me, alright?" He didn't trust this house, didn't know why but there was just something about it he didn't like, it and the people. Or maybe it just reminded him too much of his own childhood.

Dannyl sat in the chair he was led to, though he perched only on the edge, as though ready to stand in an instant should he need to. He looked to the child, jumping around. "You should probably stop that before you fall and it'll be you Slyth needs to see to," he said in a soft voice.

Slyth flicked his ears lightly when Dannyl whispered to him, indicating he heard him. But then he was gone up the stairs.

The child stopped his jumping around when Dannyl spoke to him. The child stared at him for a few moments defiantly. "But the floor is lava." He explained as he jumped onto the couch Dannyl was on. "He helped you too!" The child said with a bright smile on his face. Now that child was so close, Dannyl would be able to both see and scent that this child was a Lycan as well. The child smiled brightly. "Are you his friend?" He asked, still bright eyed.

Dannyl's eyes widened when he recognised the child as a fellow lycan. "So young," he murmered to himself. Becoming a lycan slowed the aging process right down so that a decade could pass as a year. They still aged and would eventually die, but simply much much slower than humans. Because of that, most lycans avoided turning children, but then if he were bitten and survived the bite itself and ensuring infection when the lycan who bit him meant for him to die then it could have been an accident.

"He did," he answered the child. "Only last moon though. And yes, at least he's my friend. I hope he's my friend. Who... who changed you? How did it happen?" he asked.

The child now sat down on the cushion beside Dannyl, with his legs up and crossed on the couch with him. "I've never seen a friend of his before. I thought he didn't have any." The child said in that ussual innocence where they don't understand that they could have been rude. "Oh." He said as Dannyl asked him about who had turned him. "Umm.. I don't know.. He was scary though." He shivered lightly as he remembered a horrible experience. "I was with my mommy. The wolf man came out of nowhere and hurt everyone around us." He sighed lightly, "Mommy wouldn't wake up after he left. But it was a long time ago." He smiled lightly, "long, long time ago. When daddy wasn't an old man."

So the fact the boy had survived probably was an accident on the lycan's part. He wondered who it might have been, wondered if it might have been him before he made a concsious effort to stop eating meat especially human meat.

"Do you have any family? Any other lycan friends?" he asked. The boy's father wouldn't live forever and because he had been turned so young, the boy was still a young child, not old enough, big or strong enough to survive on his own yet. And Dannyl didn't want him fall into the hands of someone like his brother. He also wondered if there had been another lycan to teach him about the moon times. Well Slyth seemed to know a lot about lycans but Dannyl found it unlikely he truly understood the change process. Lycan's that were accidental changes didn't tend to live very long or if they did and managed to figure out how to hunt without being ostrasized by humanity they would often lose their mind. This child seemed sound in both body and mind.

"Why is Slyth here? Is someone in your family sick?" he then asked, deciding to change the subject.

"I have a brother.." The child said right before Dannyl had decided to change the subject. "Oh um.. Yeah. My brother." He said as he looked up at the roof. "He's been sick for awhile. No one knows what it is. Slyth will help though. He always helps people." The child said happilly, wearing a wide smile on his face.

Just then, Slyth entered the room, a full pouch of money in his hands. "Hello there Alidai." He said with a smile before looking to Dannyl. "Are you ready to go?" He said as he looked over the two. He had forgotten this was the house Alidai lived in and now he wondered if Dannyl was overly surprised with having found such a young lycan living apparently peacefully with the people int his town.

Well at least he had someone, Dannyl thought. Even if this brother was likely to be a fully grown man now he might have family of his own or something, children who wont mind helping look after their uncle. He would be fine, Dannyl told himself.

He looked up when Slyth returned and nodded, standing. "See you later kid," he said, ruffling the boy's hair. He followed Slyth out of the house, quiet and lost in thought. At one time he would have said that the child should have been killed rather than be forced to undergo what a lycan must every month and be forced to hunt and kill, but that boy seemed to be quite happy with his life and addapted to it. Maybe that was the key, Dannyl thought. Maybe instead of waiting until someone was an adult before deliberately changing them, they should be changed as a child; children did seem to adapt to new situations easier than adults after all.

"What was wrong with the boy's brother?" Dannyl eventually asked Slyth. "Do we have all the money we need now?"

"Bye." Alidai said as he gave a wave before continuing his game of 'the floor is lava'.

"It was something with his heart." Slyth said as he walked out of the house, giving one last glance back inside before looking to Dannyl. Yes. We do have enough now." He said as he handed the money over to Dannyl. He gave a smile as he guided Dannyl back to the Markets. It wasn't as busy now as it had been when they arrived, but there were still quite a few people about, buying things they needed for the day. That made it easy for them to be able to go about to each of the vendors that had stuff held for them. An exchange of money and goods took place and soon enough Dannyl and Slyth were on their way out of town and back home, with a nice bundle of cloths, carving tools, and whatever else Dannyl had needed.

"Thank you so much for this," Dannyl said to Slyth, though it was clear he was somewhat distracted. He was silent as they gathered up the things they had asked to be put aside and while Dannyl was somewhat happy with his new tools, he wasn't as jubilent as he had been when he had first walked into the store.

It wasn't until they had left the town and were on their home that Dannyl spoke. "Slyth. About that boy... and his brother. Is the heart problem completely healed now? Or will it come back? It's just that... well I don't know if you know but lycans age very slowly. It varies but usually something like ten years will pass with the appearance of only one. And if that child was an accidental then it would probably be another hundred years before he's able to look after himself. He's father's old, in the winter of his life, and if he's brother is sick all the time... well you get what I'm getting at.

"Ah.. As soon as I had saw you and him speaking, I knew you would have your worries for him." Slyth said as he mounted his cow and they started heading off into the desert once more. "His brother's heart is healed for now. I am unsure as to whether or not the problem will return once more to him." He said with a light sigh. Slyth did wish he knew more about ailments, rather than just having the ability to fix them. That way, he figured, he would know what to do to heal them for good, rather than the chance that its only temporary.
"Yes. I do know Lycans age very slowly Dannyl. I would have to be blind to not see that you've barely aged since we seperated so long ago. I will tell you though. The boy will be fine for another few years. And, if the need does arise, he is welcome to come to live in the forest."

Dannyl smirked. "Am I really that predictable?" he asked, smirk still evident on his face. "Yes, I am concerned about him. He's too young to have been changed. I just hope... that it wasn't me. I remember little from moon times, it could have been me. But..." he turned to Slyth with an appreciative smile. "Thank you, for letting him stay in your utopia when the time comes."

Some time later they reached the sanctuary and, climbing off the cow, giving it a pat in thanks, Dannyl took the bags and carried them into the cave, putting them against the wall out of the way for now. "I'll go find some wood," Dannyl said, before wandering off again, his wolf eyes sweeping the ground before him, looking for suitable pieces that had fallen. He returned about half an hour later with a few likely specimens and sat with them in the sun outside the cave, turning each of them over closely, drawing in his mind how he would make what he saw.

Apon returning to the sanctuary, Slyth dismounted his cow and in a few short moments, both cows appeared to vanish before returning to Slyth. Soon, they returned to the cave and all Dannyl did before 'running' off to the forest was put things out of the way and say he was going for wood. Slyth smiled lightly as he watched Dannyl go off.
As soon as the lycan was out of sight of the cave, Slyth went about taking what they had gotten out of bags and put them in a small wooden chest he had recieved from a patient a few months before Dannyl had arrived into his life once more. Only after he put the tools in the chest did he realize the chest was in a far back corner of the cave that Dannyl would have some troubles getting to. He sighed lightly and laughed at himself for not thinking about that, before he pulled the chest out and put it against the makeshift bed he had made up for Dannyl in the corner of the cave, which was as far away from his own bed as one could get.

Eventually, Slyth heard Dannyl's return. He poked his head out of the cave and looked over at Dannyl, watching as he sat there in the sunlight looking over the wood. "I put your carving things by your bed."

Smiling a little embarresedly that Slyth had to put his things away, he said, "Thank you," before going in to select the tools he would need more immediately, for now what looked like a sharp metal pencil and a simple hand carver, looked like two knives joined so the point was a V. These he took outside along with one of the pieces of wood he had selected and sat outside the cave where the light was best. He began by drawing out areas on the wood that he wanted to carve, getting that just right before setting to work with the actual carving. Within an hour it was clear he was carving some kind of four-legged animal. He went back inside switching those tools for some sand paper and a few finer carving tools before going back outside and continuing, smoothing the surface then adding details.

Finally, just as the sun was setting and light was getting too dark, he judged it to be finished and smiled at his handy-work as he turned it this way and that, checking for any imperfections. There were none.

"Slyth," he called, hiding what he had carved in the palm of his hand so the cow-demon wouldn't see it.

Slyth went about doing his daily routine, which was mostly just cleaning up whatever messes he may have forgetten to clean the day before and go about deciding what he wanted to eat for supper. Though Supper was almost always vegetable soup or just planly cut up fruites and vegetables. So, while Dannyl went about carving, Slyth started on supper.
Just as supper was finnished, which was salad with some cut up fruites on a side dish for variety, Dannyl called for him. Slyth washed his hands quickly before going outside to see what it was Dannyl wanted. "Yes?" He asked as he came over with his head cocked slightly to the side curiously. "Are you done?" He asked as he realized Dannyl wasn't carving anymore, and appeared to be hiding whatever it was he had made.
Slyth crouched down, trying to look into his hand to see what the carving was.

Dannyl grinned at Slyth's obvious curiosity at what he had carved. "I wanted to thank you properly for helping when you had every right to just leave me with those humans," he said. "So I wanted you to have my first carving."

He opened his hands to reveal a perfect rendition of a little cow, incredibly detailed down to its very eyelashes. "I'm not very good at painting and I didn't buy any lacquer wanting to save money for the tools," he said apologetically, "but hopefully you like it anyway." It still seemed painfully inadequate but hopefully it would at least go a little way to repaying his debt.

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Tegian-kun:

Slyth's curiousity dampened lightly when Dannyl spoke of his saving him from the humans, even though he did have every right not to. Slyth was going to point out that, even though he didn't know it was Dannyl at the point, if he had, he would have done the same thing either way. But, he decided to keep his mouth shut, esspecially after he saw the little cow
carving. Slyth couldn't help but let out a small sound of happiness as he took the cow, biting his bottom lip to try and not seem to overly excited about it.

"Thank you." He said as he hugged Dannyl swiftly before getting up to his feet once more. He now held the cow in both hands. "I'm going to put it somewhere safe." He said as he ran back inside to put the little cow carving on the night stand beside his bed. Though the night stand was really just a block of wood with a cup of water on it. He put the cow in
the very middle, and made sure to have it face exactly the right way so that it would be looking at him as he slept.

[He still acts like a child sometimes. haha ;D]

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Dannyl grinned widely when Slyth seemed to love his gift so much, simple though it was. It was heartwarming to see that something he made was appreciated.

"When we go to town next I'll get some lacquer so we can stain it and protect it," he said.

Going to where his bed was, he lay down and stretched out, clearly weary from the day and still not 100% after his transformation.

Slyth looked over to Dannyl, slightly confused. "Why would we want to stain it? And why would that protect it?" He asked as he looked down at the little wooden cow. Obviously, Slyth was thinking along the lines of how dirt, and other such things, could stain clothing. Staining wasn't ussually a desired effect for anything to him.

"Lacquer is a liquid similar to paint that seals the wood. It can darken it or bring out the grain's natural colours and direction, or do nothing but put a slight shine to it. Either way it protects dirt from getting in the cracks, and the wood from absorbing the moisture in the air and warping," Dannyl explained absently. "Staining is just the word we give it when it changes the colour slightly. Or the act of using lacquer."

He let his eyes drift closed, clearly tired but unwilling to sleep just yet.