"Because if you don't and you let him die then another beast will come and terrorized the village and kill everything here. YOu should know what he is no harm to us, your father was the last elder and had seen him when you were younger, has he ever done anything to purposely harm the village? If he has I've never heard anything about it!" Gesei said looking back at Dustan worriedly. "Please don't die... please hold on I'm sure I can convince them." she whispered softly to him knowing he would be the only one to hear her. She was praying that she was right... that they wouldn't kill him and that they would listen to her though she felt that she was so wrong at the same time... what if they didn't listen to her and went ahead and killed him or let him suffer to death anyway? She couldn't bare the thought of that though she knew it was very possible that that would happen.

The village elder thought this threw as he listned to her and then looked at the beast on teh floor. if he did decide to help him then he coudl be peacefull or could destroy them all. After thinking for a while he came to a decision. "we will help him till he has his strength back. But as soona s we see he is getting it back we chain him and question him. If your words prove to be true then he is free to go." he said as he looked at her and dustan. Dustan tried to take comfort in her words but wasn't to sure if he could. But when he heard they would heal him he coudlnt' help but smile a little bit. Today wasn't his day to die and deaths hands would leave him be.

Gesei smiled slightly thankful for what the elder said and bowed some. "Thank you elder Kazu" she said softly then turned to Dustan and knelt down rubbing his head softly "Though... I do want to stay close to him... I want to see with my own eyes that you are taking good care of him... after all you have no idea how much he does for us all." she said over her shoulder then looked back at Dustan and sat down next to his head still stroking him softly.

Kazu sighed as he watched her and then yelled, "get the Healer in here. We need to keep him alive for a little while." he said and a few others started to run off to get the best village healer they had. Dustan looked up weakly when he felt her hand on his head but smile a little bit. He barely heard Kazu say, "fine, you can stay close but no funny bussiness." he said and then started to talk with some other people about where they would place him. Dustan moved closer to her and found himself placing his tiger head in her lap as she stroked it.

"Don't worry once you talk to them they will have no reason to kill you... you've done too much for them and I'm not leaving you... I don't really trust them." Gesei whispered to him softly as she rubbed his head and scratched softly behind one of his ears before rubbing his head again soothingly. She wasn't talking loud enough for anyone else to hear though she really didn't trust them anymore... how dare they try and kill him for no other reason then the assumption that he killed all those girls... she would have already been dead if he killed all the girls that he got would she not? And she was far from dead.

Dustan tried to take comfrot in her words and smirked slightly when he heard her say she didn't trust them. He didn't trust them either and probably wouln't from now on. He purred softly as she petted him and looked more like a giant house cat then a tiger. Kazu finally came over and looked at them, "we found a place where we can put him, do you mind if we take him there?" he asked as he looked at her.

"As long as you heal him and I can stay with him I don't mind..." Gesei said almost guardedly and protectively though still kept her voice at least somewhat respectful. Women weren't exactly the equals of men in her village though a single woman had more of a say then a married woman... still they weren't very respected and if a woman was thought to be out of line too far then they could be punished and sometimes, though not normally, could be sentenced to death if it was really bad.

Kazu growled but forced himself to nod. In his mind she was with this beast so she had some say in this and even if eh didn't want to he had to listen. "fine." he said and them motioned for some men to come over. They did and slowly but not to gently they picked up Dustan. They carried him to a open house and layed him on the bed. "the healer will be here soon." Kazu said before him and the others left.

Gesei nodded as she sat on the bed close to Dustan's head and started stroking his head again starting to scratch behind his ear also. "I know they don't like me and don't trust me anymore though I don't care... I also know that if they choose to either kill you or if I stay then they will kill me... I have just risked my own life by standing up to the elder of the village and for a woman to speak out of line like I just did it... it could be punishable by death sometimes." she said quietly though continued what she was doing keeping herself calm and trying to keep him content and as calm as possible.

Dustan frowned when he heard her and then growled softly. He reached out and took her hand into his, "nothing is going to happen to you, not while I am still alive." You could hear how weak he was but there was fight in his voice and determination in his eyes. He would protect her from anything and everyone, no one would hurt her. "I dont think they would mess with me and actually they have no rule over you. Your not apart of there village anymore, they gave you to me so only I have the power to do anything." he said softly and kept her hand in his. Slowly his tiger form started to dissappear and soon a human Dustan layed there.

Gesei listened to him and smiled slightly though then looked at him worriedly and put her free hand on his cheek and felt that he was burning up. "D-Dustan? Are you okay?" she asked and you could hear the worry and fear clear in her voice. She knew it was true that he was the only one that had power over her now though she also knew that if he died that they would kill her soon after... she just knew it and feared it. She looked around worriedly and hoped that the healer would be in soon. She didn't want to watch him in pain... she didn't want to watch him die and she knew that the poison was already working fast and killing him... she hoped the healer would hurry and get there so he didn't get any worse.

Dustan looked at her weakly and smiled slightly, "dont worry.. still here." he said but you could tell he was starting to lose the fight a little bit. "not going to let go just yet." he said and right as he said this the healer came in. She looked down at the man and sighed, "so I am guessing he is the one I have to work on?" she asked but before they could anser she was already checking him out. She was a small old women who looked like she had a lot of fight in her. She examined Dustan well and then started to pull out some herbs, "how long ago was he poisioned?" she asked as she started to work with the herbs.

"This morning... before they brought me back here thinking that he had been hurting me though he had done no such thing." Gesei said softly as she looked at the healer and smiled some. She knew the healer well from all the home visits she made to her mother and how kind she was to her... though she wondered if the healer still liked her as much since now she would be considered a trader for helping and caring for Dustan.

The healer nodded and then smiled at Gesei, "dont worry, he will be fine. I got here just in time." she said and finished crushing up the herbs. She placed the herbs into some water and then slowly got him to drink some of it. She then looked at Gesei, "so tell me, is he kind? He must be since your protecting him." she said as she looked at her. She was glad that she was okay, she had been worryed about her ever since she left this place. But now that she looked at her she realized she left a trap that consumed all women here.

"He is... he is very kind and caring. At first, because of all that I had heard of him, I didn't trust him and one time I tried running... a giant spider caught me and was going to kill me though he came up and saved me just in time. I did miss it here... I missed you... you were like a second mother to me especially when mom died and you took care of me for a bit. How's your doubter? Last time I heard she was very ill is she okay?" Gesei asked softly as she looked at the elderly woman and couldn't help but smile and when she was done helping Dustan she gave the woman a hug like how you would hug a beloved family member... even though they weren't related at all she thought of the woman highly.

The women smiled, "I am glad that he is taking care of you. In truth he looks like a decent guy, much better then the men here." she said and then patted her hand gently, "and I missed you too. Seeing you go was like seeing my own flesh and blood leave." she said softly but when she mensioned her daughter she sighed. "she is doing better but not much. I am not sure what she has but it isn't going away." she said as she looked at her. But smiled when she felt gesei hug her, "it truely is good to see you." she said and then heard Dustan groan and smiled. "and it sounds like he is going to be fine."

"Yeah... he's a lot better then some of the guys I met here... well at least he's already getting better. I'm happy to hear that she is better. Even a little better is better then not at all." Gesei smiled softly as she looked at the healer then couldn't help but ask. "Might I have put any of the other women in the village at risk? I mean.... I just didn't want them to kill him... and I wanted to be with him to make sure he was treated right you know." she asked softly looking down some hoping she hadn't.

The woman shook her head, "your putting no one in risk. Your not part of the village anymore and you have every right to be close to him. " she said as she looked at Gesei and smiled. "and I am glad that your out of there. Anywhere is better then the village, it is like a prison here sometimes." she said and then nodded, "your right even a little bit better then nothing. I just hope she gets better soon." she said. Dustan muttered a few things in his sleep and in the middle of it you could hear Gesei's name.

Gesei smiled softly at the woman then looked at Dustan smiling some to him. She then reached over and the closest hand of his and held if softly. "I hope he'll be okay... I hope they believe me and him and won't hurt him..." she whispered worriedly as she looked at Dustan praying that he would be okay and would get better soon

The women looked at the two and raised a eyebrow, "do I detect that you may have feelings for this man?" she asked and wondered if they where more then just friends or something. She then smiled and patted Gesei's knee, "dont worry, they will believe and if they dont he will protect you. He is tought, most men would die instantly after having that poision. But he held on so he is strong." she said as she smiled at her.

Gesei blinked some though smiled weakly and shook her head. "No not like that... I care allot about him because he cares so much for me and he is very protective if me." she said softly as she looked at Dustan softly.

The women chuckled and shook her head, "okay, if that is what you believe thatn I will believe you." she said but knew something more was there. "it is good that he is protective though, it means that he will always keep you safe no matter what." she said and now missed her husband.

"Yes... He has already proven that he will keep me safe no matter what..." Gesei said softly and looked up to the healer. She knew about the woman's husband and wondered some if talking about this brought up any pains from her past about him.

The healer smiled at her, "that is good, but I wonder what his reasons are to keep you safe." she said as she looked at her and wondered if the man cared ofr her for was just lonely.

"I'm not sure really... I just know that everyone was wrong about him... he is very nice and wouldn't hurt anyone unless he had to." Gesei said softly as she looked at Dustan and hoped that he would be okay. He had done allot for her and she didn't like this... she didn't like knowing that she was the cause of them hurting him like this.