I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

Rhea didn’t hesitate. She turned away from the lighter set of tracks and immediately started down the eastern trail, her eyes tracking the heavy smears of blood coating the roots and leaves.

Arthur followed a few steps behind her with an arrow already nocked, though he kept the string relaxed. Kara stayed close behind him with both blades drawn while Derren watched their rear.

The metallic clink sounded again several minutes later, then went quiet. Whoever was making it clearly wasn’t wasting the effort.

Arthur kept his eyes on the tree line as they walked. "What exactly am I hearing?"

"Hunter signal," Rhea said quietly, her gaze sweeping the brush. "A metal tag we carry. You strike the pommel of a knife against it when shouting would just attract predators."

Arthur stepped over a blood-stained root. "Useful."

"Mostly when idiots get lost," Kara muttered, her grip tight on her weapons.

"Torr taught you the signal," Rhea reminded her.

"Exactly," Kara said. "Expert idiot."

They found him another hundred yards down the trail.

A rocky rise sloped upward, its base tangled with thick, exposed tree roots. Tucked into a shallow depression beneath the wood, half-hidden by ferns, sat a man covered in dried blood and dirt. His clothes were torn, a crude, soaked bandage was wrapped tightly around his left thigh, and an empty healing potion bottle lay discarded in the dirt beside his hand.

He was conscious, but barely. He held a hunting knife in one hand and a small metal disk in the other.

Rhea lowered her spear. "Joren."

The hunter slowly lifted his head. He blinked several times before his eyes finally focused on Rhea, then let his head fall back against the root behind him.

"Took you long enough," he rasped.

Kara let out a long breath and stepped into the depression. "You look like shit."

"Good to see you too," Joren whispered.

Arthur left the others room to work and moved several steps toward the deeper woods. He kept Whisperwind ready while his eyes moved slowly across the trees and brush around them.

Rhea and Kara went to work immediately. Kara carefully cut away the crude, blood-soaked bandage while Derren unstoppered a fresh healing potion and brought over a skin of clean water.

Joren had already emptied one potion trying to stop the bleeding, but the deep cuts across his thigh were still open in places. Derren poured part of a fresh vial over the worst of them and waited until the bleeding slowed before handing the rest to Joren.

"Drink."

Arthur swept the shadows, listening to the quiet murmurs behind him.

Kara helped Joren sit forward once the fresh bandage was tied, but the moment he tried putting weight on the injured leg, his face went white.

Rhea looked through the trees. What little daylight remained beneath the canopy was disappearing fast.

"That’s enough," she said. "We stay here tonight."

Kara’s eyes went toward the eastern trail, but after one look at Joren she sheathed one of her blades and started clearing space beside the rocky rise.

Derren built a small fire close to the rocky rise while Kara cleared enough ground for Joren to lie comfortably. The flames stayed low beneath the roots, barely visible from beyond the immediate camp.

Once Joren was settled and the first food came out, everyone finally stopped moving for more than a few minutes.

Arthur rested Whisperwind against his knee and opened his inventory. He pulled out the remaining parcels of food Seraphina had forced on him that morning, unwrapping cured meats, thick bread, and dried fruit.

Kara immediately appeared beside him, staring at the spread.

"I knew bringing the human was a good idea," she announced, taking a heavy slice of bread.

"You said that after he killed the Blacktusks on the road," Rhea pointed out, sitting down across from them.

"I was wrong," Kara said around a mouthful of food. "This is much more useful."

Derren sat down near the fire and gladly took the meat Arthur offered him. "She’s right. Guild rations taste like tree bark compared to this."

"Finally, proper recognition," Arthur said.

Even Joren managed to eat a little, taking a piece of bread and the waterskin Kara pushed into his hands. He looked less grey than he had beneath the roots.

He leaned back against the rock and looked across the small fire, noticing Arthur for the first time.

"Who’s the human?" Joren asked tiredly.

Kara answered before Arthur could. "Rhea brought him home."

Rhea stared into the fire. "I am going to kill all of you."

Arthur grinned and introduced himself properly.

Joren gave him a tired nod. "Thanks for coming out."

"Try not to make a habit of it."

The fire had burned low by the time Joren leaned back against the rock and let out a long breath.

"Where’s Torr?" Rhea asked.

Joren stared down at his bandaged leg. "Don’t know."

Kara stopped chewing.

"We reached the eastern trails near mid-morning," Joren said slowly. "Everything was a mess. Panicked animals, corrupted deer and boars charging us on sight. We were pulling back toward the clearing when it hit us."

He paused, taking another slow drink of water.

"Hati," Rhea said.

Joren nodded. "But he looked wrong. His fur was matted, covered in dirt. I saw dark veins crawling up the side of his neck, just like the boars. His movements were erratic. He was growling, snapping at the air even when nothing was close to him."

Rhea went completely still.

"Something charged us from the brush," Joren continued. "Torr yelled. Hati slammed into something—another corrupted beast, I think. Then the whole clearing exploded. I got thrown into a tree, took a slash to the leg, and everything went to chaos."

Arthur studied the injured man. "Did you actually see Hati hit you?"

Joren stared into the fire for several seconds. "I... don’t know."

Arthur didn’t press him.

"Merek went north," Joren said, wincing as he shifted his leg. "Torr stayed when I went down. Then he headed east. He was shouting, smashing his spear against the trees, making as much noise as possible."

Kara’s fingers tightened around her waterskin until the leather creaked. She stared past the fire into the dark woods without saying anything.

"I dragged myself out of the clearing," Joren finished quietly. "Ended up here. And then..."

He stopped.

"Then what?" Derren asked.

"Hati found me," Joren whispered. "A few hours ago. He came right up to the roots."

Rhea leaned forward, her hands white-knuckled around her spear.

"I thought I was dead," Joren said. "He was close enough I could smell the blood on him. But he just stood there. He growled, stared at me for a long time... and then he just turned away and walked back into the woods. He could’ve taken my head off without slowing down."

Arthur looked across the fire toward Rhea.

She was staring at the ground between her boots, jaw tight.

"We’ll find them in the morning," Rhea told Joren softly.

Joren closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the stone. "You better."

Joren didn’t stay awake much longer. Within minutes his breathing had settled into the slow rhythm of exhausted sleep.

Derren stretched out on the far side of the fire while Kara took the first watch.

Arthur slept for a few hours and woke to a camp reduced to glowing embers and quiet breathing. Kara had already handed off the watch and was curled inside her bedroll.

Rhea sat alone on a thick root near the edge of the firelight, her spear resting against one shoulder as she watched the trees.

Arthur stood up, picked up Whisperwind, and walked over.

Rhea glanced at him as he sat down on the root beside her. "You’re supposed to be sleeping."

"So are you," Arthur pointed out.

She didn’t argue. She turned her attention back to the forest, the faint red glow of the embers catching the edge of her profile. Her ears twitched occasionally, tracking sounds Arthur couldn’t even hear.

"When I was young, I wandered too far into the eastern woods," Rhea said quietly.

Arthur didn’t interrupt. He simply listened.

"I got turned around trying to follow a forest cat," she continued, her voice barely rising above the crackle of the dying fire. "Ended up near a deep stream. I looked across the water, and Hati was standing there."

Her hands tightened slightly around the shaft of her spear.

"He was huge, even then. I froze. I was entirely in his territory, completely alone, and I couldn’t even reach my hunting knife. He could’ve crossed that stream and killed me before I took a single breath." She looked down at her boots. "Instead, he just stared at me for a while. Then he turned around and left. I’ve seen him a few times since then, always at a distance. He doesn’t hunt us."

Arthur looked toward the dark forest. "Then let’s figure out what’s actually wrong before anyone decides he needs killing."

Rhea looked at him for a few seconds. Her grip on the spear relaxed.

Rhea shifted on the root, and her tail slipped over the edge to brush against Arthur’s thigh.

Arthur glanced down.

Rhea caught the movement immediately. Her eyes dropped briefly toward his hands, then returned to his face.

Arthur looked at the tail for another second before turning his attention back to the trees. His hands stayed where they were on Whisperwind.

A long moment passed.

"Nothing?" Rhea asked softly.

"About what?"

Rhea rolled her eyes. "You’ve stared at my tail for two days."

"Staring and touching are different hobbies."

Rhea almost laughed. She left her tail where it was, resting against his leg.

"Were you really just going home?" Rhea asked a minute later.

"Yes," Arthur said. "I was in a private carriage heading to Bellford. I hated it."

Rhea looked at him in disbelief. "So all this happened because you were bored?"

Arthur considered that for a second. "Basically."

Rhea laughed, quiet enough not to wake the others.

Something cracked deeper in the forest.

Rhea’s ears snapped forward. Arthur heard the branch break a second later and brought Whisperwind up, both of them watching the darkness beyond the firelight.

Nothing came through the brush.

Then a wolf howled somewhere far to the east.

The sound carried for several seconds between the trees before gradually fading.

Rhea didn’t move.

Arthur lowered the bow an inch. "Him?"

"Yeah."

Her tail tightened briefly against Arthur’s leg before she pulled it away and stood.

"Get some sleep. We move before sunrise."

Arthur kept looking toward the trees where the howl had come from.

"Sure."

He remained sitting beside her.

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