James stood in the forest, his senses spread out across the trees and groves. By his side, a slim panther sat, his purrs filling the air as he licked his lips clean of the blood from a snack he was given.

In the distance, Luna was helping Amber kill a pack of boars that had tried to take out the cat. And by helping, Luna was carrying Amber around while the cat siphoned everything. It was comical to say the least.

Mender and Jamie were walking together, keeping side by side as they tracked down a bear. James could feel the predator eyeing them, readying itself to strike. Despite being stalked, Mender and Jamie were calm and collected.

Bronson was with Linda, while the other two brothers were further away. Everyone was fighting, and had been for an hour. Despite all of that time, they hadn't grown more than a fraction of what they needed. It would take all week to reach level one, and they were likely going to need to venture further afield to keep hunting.

Turning to the panther, James said, "you should go for now. We won't be leaving for a week."

Bowing its head, the black panther hurried off into the woods. Left alone, James started towards Amber. He nearly blurred through the forest before he arrived. Three of the six boars were on the ground, their souls extinguished.

"Not bad," he commented as he stepped into the open. The last three boars tried to flee his presence, but their souls were so weak, they didn't make it far before Amber leapt from Luna's arms and cut them down.

Smirking, the cat sauntered over to him. "Have you come to admire me shaking my tail for you?"

Luna growled. "Stop flirting with my husband!"

"Our husband, you mean," Amber taunted.

Rolling his eyes, James grabbed Amber's tail and pulled gently, making her yelp. "Behave." Turning to Luna, he added, "and stop giving into her teasing. Pretty soon she's going to be grinding her ass against me just to get a rise out of you."

Luna's eyes narrowed. "And you wouldn't push her away?"

Opening his mouth to respond, he knew he couldn't lie, so he simply didn't answer. "I do need to talk to Amber though. You should stay for this, Luna."

Both ladies stood up straight.

"What's going on?" Amber asked. "You normally aren't serious until night time."

Rubbing his cheek, he let out a long breath that released no small amount of tension. "I don't know if I'll be going back to the city."

"What? Why?" Amber questioned.

Luna walked over and cupped his cheek. "Is it that bad?"

"It is," he admitted. "You could feel them. You watched as they scattered from the streets. I'll only enter when the elders need me. For now, you two will be my eyes and ears."

Luna nodded once while Amber stepped up and rested her hand on his arm. "What about Running River?"

James turned his attention to the cat. "I'll need both of you to gather information and make a plan for me. Once I enter the city, the cultivators will know I'm there. They will go on the defensive. I don't want to give them any warning."

"We understand," Luna said softly. "Amber and I will figure something out."

Nodding in agreement, Amber rested her head on his arm. "I want to stay by your side, James. If doing this means I can, then I will use all of my resources."

To his surprise, Luna pulled Amber into a hug. With the mood somber, he turned away and scanned the forest. All of the Forsaken had fled from the area.

"I should go," he said. "I need to find a place to camp for the night, and I can't be around for you all to fight."

"How is everyone else doing?" Luna asked. "Do they need help?"

Shifting his attention to the others, he found Jamie stabbing her daggers into the back of the bear over and over while Mender blocked claws with his staff. Bronson was holding down a boar while Linda siphoned it, both of them recovering from injuries. The other Elson brothers were doing the best. They had found a den of wolves and were both latched onto six each while fighting them in a narrow passage.

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"They are fine," he said after a moment.

"How much can you sense now?" Luna asked. "Your soul feels like it is everywhere."

"It is," James answered. "I can feel everything within twenty miles. But the farther I stretch, the harder it is to tell details. Everything grows fuzzy, so I'm only focusing on our small area."

"And you can't do that?" Amber asked, turning to Luna.

"No…" Luna said slowly. "James doesn't feel like the rest of us. Nor does he eat or drink. Even among the rest of us Soul Cultivators, he's in a different league."

Rubbing his eyes, James started to leave. "Keep each other safe."

Before they could comment, he disappeared further into the forest. He let his soul brush against the others, checking their vitals as they healed and rested after fights. Some of them were growing hungry and were eating their kills while keeping each other in check. His advice was being heeded at least.

He didn't venture far, but he did come to a wide glade that had the perfect view of the sky. They still had hours left in their day before they needed to rest. Thankfully, they all knew where he was, and were slowly making their way toward him.

Luna turned to Amber once James was gone. "You love him, don't you?"

Amber turned away. "I don't know…I find myself drawn to him ever since our meeting. Did it feel like this for you?"

Snorting a laugh, Luna earned a frown from the cat. Holding up her hand, she said, "it didn't. I was terrified of him for months before we started talking again. He felt so comfortable to be around once I got past the fear. Even now, all I want to do is bask in his soul with him by my side."

Amber sat where she was. "I want to be by his side. That's all I want."

"Even if he never sees you as more than a friend?" Luna asked.

"Yes." Amber swallowed and let her head slump. "I want more, but I don't know how he is with stuff like that. He's human."

"Sort of…" Luna said. "I think he's human shaped at least. His parts all work, but I don't know if he's truly human. Ask him about his childhood sometime."

Frowning, Amber looked up at her. "You don't seem upset that I want to kiss your husband."

"Only kiss?" she teased. "Seriously though, I like you Amber, but don't force anything with James. He just needs friends, not another lover."

Sighing, Amber nodded. "I understand, but I'm not going to stop flirting with him. Thank you for not kicking me out."

"You're a cat. Even if I kicked you out, you'd slink back in. Filthy animal…"

Rolling her eyes, Amber got back to her feet. "Let's keep hunting. Fighting Forsaken with my claws is vastly different than people."

"To bad you can't turn into a giant cat," Luna hummed. "Imagine burying James in fur."

"Hey, Luna?"

Turning to the cat, Luna cocked her head. "Yes?"

"Thank you for understanding. I feel like we are going to be great friends."

Beaming, Luna skipped up to her. "We are! Now let's get you stronger. We don't have long to reach the point where you can fight even stronger Forsaken. This forest is pitiful."

"They seem plenty hard," Amber argued. "How are these things easy?"

Tutting, Luna pulled on her hand. "You'll see. Make sure you take some injuries today. The sooner you can gain a few resistances and level your Regeneration, the better."

"I can already feel the pain…"

"It never gets better." Laughing, Luna sniffed the air, they weren't far from a pack of wolves.

The sun was starting to descend by the time the teams reached James and the makeshift camp he had put together. The grass had been patted down, while two tubs of water were set up for those that wanted to bathe before bleeding through the night.

Luna and Amber were the first to reach him. His wife didn't hesitate to strip out of her leather wrap and shorts and jump into the water. Her squeal of delight made Amber turn to him.

"Look away, Handsome," she teased. "I don't need your lustful gaze on me."

Laughing, he turned his back to the ladies. The shifting of clothes was preceded by Amber laying her tight pants and shirt over his shoulder. Both of them had seen better days and were blood stained. "Am I cleaning these?" he asked.

A purr rumbled in his ear before Amber pulled away. "I'll reward you if you do."

"Stop flirting with him," Luna droned. "Get in the water before he loses his self-control."

"Maybe I want him to," Amber joked.

Sighing, James pulled out a small tub and filled it with water. Adding Amber's clothes, he grabbed the brush and started scrubbing. "The others will be here soon. Don't hog all the water."

"Yeah, yeah," Luna mumbled.

It wasn't more than a few more minutes before Mender and Jamie arrived. The latter was sporting several claw marks through her shirt that showed her pale skin underneath. Mender was missing the pantleg from his knee down and the flesh looked fresh.

"Lose a leg?" James asked.

"Yes," the healer grumbled. "Damn racoon…"

Snorting a laugh, Jamie started pulling off her clothes. "Brother, wash these for me, please." Tossing her shirt and pants over to him, she made him turn so she could take off her underwear.

Adding the clothes to his tub, he waited for Mender to add his as well. "Time to switch out baths!"

Luna and Amber groaned. "But, Honey…" Luna whined. "You haven't even pampered our tails…"

"Get out of the water," he ordered. "We still have six more people to go through."

The splashing of water was followed by a huff from the two girls. When they stepped up to his side, they were both wrapped in towels, and it was only a second later before the water was disturbed again as Jamie and Mender soaked.

"Are we using blankets tonight?" Amber asked.

"Nope!" he chirped. "You all are going to bleed like crazy, so we are laying on the grass."

"Oh, yay, more pain," Mender grumbled.

Laughing, James watched the other four enter the glade. Linda didn't look like she had more than a few scratches throughout the day, but Bronson was shredded. Taking none of that, he said, "make sure you are all taking damage. You need the resistances and skills. Don't protect each other just because you worry they will hate you."

Bronson and Linda shared a look before sighing. Knowing he had called them out, they started stripping and preparing themselves for their turn in the bath. They didn't have long before the sun set, and their pain started again. It was going to be a long night.

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