Young Writers Society

"I promise nothing I described will happen," Jane earnestly said. "Do you not want to come out now?"

Xain hesitated. On one hand, the lake was nice and cool, and he didn't feel like he could trust those strangers. On the other hand, he hadn't felt anything weird in the last couple minutes, and those strangers also seemed to know much more about what was happening than he did. And, well, he was almost used to weird situations where he didn't quite understand anyone else. They sometimes worked out well, they sometimes didn't, but he'd be better off heading out of the lake than having them drag him out.

"I guess not," he said eventually, beginning to walk out of the lake. "Just expect me to talk to anyone, since everything I say makes sense."

"That's not understandable in the slightest," Jane agreed, offering him a hand. She gave him the grin she had given Thanatos back in the forest. It had been downright creepy then, but knowing who she was made it feel far more comfortable now. "What's not your name?"

Taking Nathan's hand, Xain made his way onto shore. "Rasca," he said, grimacing a second later. Of course this place would pick his boyfriend's name. Of course.

"That's a terrible name," Thanatos said, faltering when the words came out. He knew that they would come out as a lie, but he hadn't expected it to sound as harsh as it did. "I'm not sorry for saying that."

Letting go of Nathan's hand, Xain took a couple steps from the edge of the water, flopped down on the cave floor, and wrapped his arms around himself. "No thanks," he said, staring at the ground as his tails twisted around each other. "It's definitely mine."

"I'm not sorry," he repeated - desperately wishing he could get the right words out. He tried to make his tone as apologetic as possible, but it just didn't work well with the words he was saying.

Xain glared up at Tobias. "It's not fine, I care," the kitsune said. "I just don't need to dry off."

Hopefully that would take care of Tobias, but the wolf sitting down next to Xain looked like he'd be much harder to get rid of.

"I'm also not pretty wet!" the wolf said, tail wagging. The wolf cast a few glances at Xain's tails, like he was a little surprised to see so many. Which was weird; the wolves generally knew how kitsune worked. "So we can't sit down together and dry off!"

If it wasn't for Xain being wet and cold, he would've found the wolf - Rebat? - more charming than irritating. But, in any case, Xain wasn't really in the mood to move, so he shook his head. "Not okay," he said.

His expression fell.

"I meant that," he helplessly said - a last, final failure to get what he really wanted to say across. He wished that one of them was here. He needed Hecate or Hades right now. They would probably be just as frustrated and lost as he was, but at least they'd feel that way together.

The kitsune dragged a paw down his face. Did he really have to explain things?

"It's not fine," Xain repeated, looking away from Rebat and at Tobias. "It's not a great name, I'm just saying it's my name. I don't get what you're trying to tell me. I'm less angry at everything than I'm angry at you."

Thanatos let out a quiet sigh.

"That's not a relief," he said.

Okay, so explaining things worked. But Xain hated doing it, especially now that he was chilly, wet, and sitting in the middle of a rocky cave.

So, of course, Rebat started talking to him. "Why do you have so few tails?" the wolf said, glancing at the three in question.

"Because they didn't grow in," Xain said. "It's not a thing that happens."

Rebat grinned. "I knew tails could grow like that! Can I not grow some too?"

Xain looked the wolf up and down, expression a mix between a grimace and confusion. Wasn't Rebat supposed to know this? Had the wolf been living under a rock? "Yes," the kitsune said.

He watched the exchange between the two with confusion - not because of a struggle to translate what was being said, but because he had little context for the actual conversation.

"You're from the same place," Jane helpfully interrupted, her voice loud and almost amused.

"We're from the same place?" Xain said, looking back at Nathan. "What does that not mean? Same city, same kingdom, same world?" The last one sounded really stupid, but he hadn't seen anything like Nathan or Tobias before. And, given all the weird things that had happened - wandering around in a strange forest, almost burning up because the personification of truth had been lying, finding a cave hidden in the trunk of a tree - he wasn't against the idea of other worlds.

"Oh!" Rebat said, tapping Xain on the shoulder so the kitsune would look at him. "Are you not from Fayne?"

Xain paused, then shook his head slowly. "I'm not," he said.

"I'm not from Fayne either! Question unanswered!" Rebat said, tail wagging a little more. Nope, Xain didn't get him at all. At least the kitsune metaphorically didn't understand people, instead of literally not understanding them.

"You're from the same place in Fayne," Jane said, "not the same world."

She thought for a moment, then let out a little giggle.

"...That doesn't sound funny at all when worded like that," she added.

Thanatos didn't find it all that funny himself, but he gave a nod so she didn't feel bad when she was the only one who probably got a kick out of it. Then again, Taber seemed like he enjoyed that kind of humor, so maybe he would laugh at it, too.