Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 166: Brief Interlude

Visha refused to look at anyone, but that did not mean she couldn’t hear.

"Visha," Uri said.

She stiffened. Uri did not usually call her by her name. For as long as she had known him, she was used to him calling her Sha’mīn. Even Sha. But hearing him call her by her actual name. It made her more aware of how angry and worried he was. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She couldn’t meet his eyes. The feeling of guilt washed over her. She knew she must have disappointed them. She disregarded her own safety for theirs, and they did not like it. But she couldn’t allow anything to happen to them. Even if she apologized for doing it this time, she knew she would do it again.

"I’m sorry," she mummbled. "But I can’t say I won’t do it again."

The silence was deafening when she said that. She felt Xeno’s arms stiffen when she said it. He held her closer. She knew she said the wrong thing, but she could not say what they wanted her to say.

The silence was only broken when Alin spoke. He had finally broken free of the shock of seeing the giant plant stop in its tracks after Visha stood there. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself, but he moved forward, walking towards them despite the tension.

"How did you do that?" he asked, unconvinced.

His hand reached out to touch the plant.

"I suggest you keep your hands to yourself," Xeno growled.

Visha had just used her ability to calm the plant down, and this fool was about to make the plant angry again.

This was a lesson they found the hard way. It’s not that the plant died or was actually frozen. They were only docile after encountering the power. After a while, if the power was not continuously supplied, it would become agitated again.

Xeno was the one who learned the lesson the hard way. He had wanted to touch the plant and ended up in a situation where Visha had to use her powers to soothe the plant again. Since then, they always left as soon as the plant was pacified.

"We need to go," Uri said, voice tight.

Xeno immediately picked up Visha and walked away. They did not look to see if Alin was following. If he decided touching the plant was worth more than his life, that was up to him. They had walked some distance away before his voice sounded.

"Why do you all look like this?" he asked.

"Like what?" Xeno replied offhandedly. The silence was not comfortable. If talking could make him feel better, he would entertain it.

"Your beast features. When I left your pack, none of you were half-shifted. So what happened?" he questioned.

"If you had been respectful and stayed, you would know," Xeno gave Alin, who had walked up beside him, a side eye.

Alin was not ashamed. He might have been frightened by the maw, but the trio did not make him afraid. Even if their priestess could stop the plants. It was obvious it was not without consequence. If they couldn’t win, he could at least run.

Xeno was not in the mood to talk anymore, seeing his dismissive attitude.

He decided to focus on Visha, who had closed her eyes. He saw a small tear on the corner of her eye. She had fallen asleep in his arms. Only now did he talk to Uri, ignoring Alin.

"She can’t help it. She wants to protect us as much as we want to protect her." Xeno spoke. Although he did not say a name, everyone here knew who he was talking to.

"I know," Uri replied, teeth clenched. "But it does not change the fact. She put herself in danger. Against our advice."

"You would do the same." Xeno scoffed. "We may be angry now, but we both know we would do the same. We can’t fault her for something that we would do too."

Uri stopped walking. He stepped closer to Xeno. He strokes Visha’s hair.

"I know. But it does not stop my heart from aching when I see her like this."

He touched the streak of grey in her hair. He twirled the hair around her fingers before kissing it."

The two held eye contact. Their feelings speak through the bond. A smile crossed Uri’s face briefly, a flicker. He bends down, kissing Visha’s forehead. "I’m not angry," he whispers in her ear.

Visha’s eyes fluttered open. She was not deep in sleep. She could still hear pieces of their conversation. Her eyes met Uri’s. She slowly raised her hand to cup his cheek. He covered her hand with his own. Leaning into it, he closed his eyes.

Visha looked up at Xeno, who was looking between both of them. She tilted her head for a kiss from him. He obliged. A kiss of understanding.

In this moment, they came to understand more deeply that they would do anything for each other. If words weren’t enough, they could focus on the feelings in their bond.

They did not like to depend on them, even if they were expressing their truest feelings. They needed to be able to read each other without this. The decision for this was a short talk between the trio. They had noticed they didn’t communicate, but used the soul-bond to judge their feelings.

Visha thought it wasn’t healthy to do so. Even if they could feel their feelings for each other. Communication was still the best way to avoid any misunderstandings. They were still trying to balance everything.

Though their relationship appeared stable, it has been less than a year.

This quiet moment was interrupted by Alin. His shout broke the spell around the three people. They turned to see him hanging upside down.

A vine had wrapped around his foot, and it was lifting him in the air.

Visha couldn’t resist the urge to laugh. She knew they were in danger, but Alin being the one to get ’vined’ was funny to her.

Seeing the other plants around them shiver as if laughing, her eyebrow rose.