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Tao was rapidlly beginning to lose his temper. Dar had been picking on him all day.He couldn't do anything right. If it wasn't one thing it was another and nothing satisfied Dar.He continuously nit-picked about everything and the insults he hurlled at Tao stung.
"You clumbsy little runt. Fuck Tao can't you stay on your feet for more than five minutes? Gods! I swear everytime I turn around you're always in trouble! Now look at what you did.
Get away from there before you break something else. Oh please tell me you're not going to cry. You are aren't you?
Gods you're such a baby.Grow up you little whimp!"
Tao's head snapped up and he glared at Dar's back. Feed up he got to his feet and stalked over to where Dar was at. He tapped Dar on the shoulder and Dar turned to face him.
" What the fuck do you want?" Dar snarled at Tao.
"Oh nothing really. I just want to give you this!"
Tao's fist whipped out and connected with Dar's left eye. The sound of the impact echoed across tha sanctuary as Dar reeledd back.
He tripped over an exposed root and landed on his ass. Stunned he stared up at Tao through one eye, his left one had already swelled shut.Tao glared down at him with fire in his eyes. He was shaking with rage and ready to fight. He wanted to say so many things but he couldn't get the word right. So he settled for the first coharent thought he had.
"Bite my ass right in the fucking crack you stupid fucking Neandrathal!"
Podo and Kodo looked up from thier meal with shock clearly written on thier little faces.They had never heard Tao talk that way before. Ruh on the other hand knew that Tao had a very foul mouth. He didn't help matters any when he collapsed in a fit of feline laughter. From overhead Sharak could be heard chuckling.
The eagle knew that this was coming. The war clouds had been gathering for the last three days. A series of small mishaps and unreleased sexual tension only added more fuel to the fires. He landed in the tree closest to Dar and looked down at him. He knew that if they didn't get it out of their systems now it would continue to grow and they could end up seriously hurting each other. So with that thought in his mind he couldn't resist the urge to egg Dar on. He looked Dar right in the eyes and said, ~He told you didn't he?~
Dar snarled and lunged for Tao. Tao side-stepped him and brought his arm down on the back of Dar's neck. Dar quickly recovered from the blow and kicked Tao in the back of the knees. Tao collapsed on the ground and tried to roll away but Dar was on him in a flash. He got Tao in a headlock and tried to pin him down. Tao retaliated by slamming his head into Dar's chin then sinking his teeth into Dar's arm. Dar yelped and quickly released him. Dar looked down at his arm to find blood welling up from the bitemark.
" You fucking little savage!" he hissed.
"You're going to pay for that!"
Tao just glared at him then an evil grin formed on his lips.
"Bring it on. There's more where that came from!"
Dar launched himself at Tao and they rolled across the sanctuary trading punches and insults. Caught up in thier fight they never noticed the three visiters standing at the edge of the clearing. Arina, Hjalmar, and Bahktiar stood watching in stunned silence as Tao managed to pin Dar down. Sitting on Dar's chest he let loose the rage inside him and repaid Dar for every insult he had ever said to Tao with a fist in the face. What shocked the onlookers the most was that Dar didn't do anything but put his arms across his face to deflect the blows.
As the flurry of punches rained down on Dar's arms Tao opened his mouth and added insults to the injuries.
"You fucking savage! Some friend you are! Ignorant jackass! Backstabbing, two-faced, liar. You're worse than Iara. At At least with her I know she hates me. But you, you hide behind that innocent little smile of yours and act like you are my friend when all this time you've been laughing at me bhind my back. I don't need this shit from you. If I wanted to be treated like shit I would've stayed with Zad.I hate you! So help me God, I fucking hate you!!"
The words finally died down to a broken chant of"hate you" punctured with blows. Somewhere in the midst of the bombardment Dar felt his own anger drain away. He was now teetering on the verge of laughter. he had to get Tao to calm down before he lost it.
"Tao... Tao! Calm down! It's alright Tao. It's over. Calm down!"
Seeing that Tao wasn't going to calm down he looked around for Ruh. He didn't see the tiger but saw instead three very Stunned friends.
"Hey!" he called to them.
"How about alittle help here,"
Hjalmar and Bahktiar snapped out of their shock and snuck up behind Tao. They pulled him off while Arina hauled Dar out of the way.
Dar started laughing when Hjalmar and Bahktiar had to wresle Tao to the ground and sit on him in order to keep him from attacking Dar again.They were having a hell of a time trying to keep him down and Dar's laughter wasn't helping any.
"Shut up you idiot!" Bahktiar snapped at Dar.
"You're only making him worse! Damnit Arina! get him out of here!"
Arina drew Dar away from the camp. Once out of sight she turned to him.
"You deliberatly provoked him didn't you?"
Dar nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Why?" "Because he needed to let it out before it ate him alive.
"Before what ate him alive?" Arina asked,confused.
"The anger that was beginning to build up inside him.
I could feel it starting to gnaw at him."
Arina shook her head and sat down.
"So let me get this straight. You deliberatly provoked him so he would release his anger on you" Dar sat down beside her and began to examine his arm.
"Yes. It was either it be me or someone else. I can't take the risk of it being someone else. Tao might kill them.
I know how to handle him when he's like that. This isn't the first time it's happened and it probably won't be the last. Damn I think that's going to leave a scar," Arina took Dar's arm and looked the bitemark over.
"That's going to need to be cleaned out. Stay here I'll be right back." Arina went back to the campsite to retrieve Tao's bag and some water. The site was empty. As she picked up Tao's bag a shout then a curse came from the direction of the pool. It was followed by a splash. She smiled when she heard Tao bellow in rage. She heard Bahktiar yelp then curse. the curse was followed by the sound of flesh striking flesh, Bahktiar yelped again, this time in pain. She picked up a contauner of water and headed back to Dar.
She sat down beside Dar and began to clean his arm. When she was finished she started on ths rest of him. She was almost finished wneh another bellow came from the pool. They heard Hjalmar yell for Bahktiar to grab Tao's legs and hold him still. They both laughed when Bahktiar yelled back that if Hjalmar wanted Tao's legs pinned down he could do it himself.
"Sounds like he's giving them hell huh." Dar quietly said.
"Yeah. I guess he didn't like is unexpected bath.Dar tell me the truth. Why would you deliberatly do this to yourself?"
Dar hung his head for a moment then looked up at Arina.
"Tao's an empath. That's why it's dangerous for him to hold his emotions in. Ecspecially the anger. They'll build up until he'll overload. This is mild compared to the first time. The first time he kept his anger in for months. At the time I really didn't think much of it until he overloaded and went berserk on me. I ended up with a broken arm and some broken ribs. Tao didn't remember hurting me.Just like he won't remember this time around. Now I keep a closer eye on him. he minute he starts to show signs that it's building up in him I push him to the point where he has no choice but to let it out."
Dar paused and touched his eye,agrin was forming on his lips.
"This time around it only took three days to get him to let go. I know it sounds strange but if I don't it could end up driving him insane. I love him so much and if it takes a few bruises and broken bones to keep that from happening then I'll gladly pay the price. I don't want to lose him, I need him. He's all I have left."
Arina lowered her head humbled by Dar's quiet admission of his love for Tao and the strenghth of his commitment to him. He was willing to sacrifice eveything for Tao if it meant keeping Tao safe. She knew without a doubt that Tao felt the same. This, she thought, was true love.A pure and simple true love. She felt deeply honored to be able to call these two men her friends.
The commotion at the pool grew louder and someone yelled Dar's name. They quickly rose and raced to the pool. Once there they found themselves struggling not to laugh at the scene in front of them. All three men were in the pool. Well Tao was in the pool anyway. Hjalmar and Bahktiar were huddled together on the rock in the middle of the pool. Tao was circling the rock like a tiger ready to pounce on it's next meal. The look on his face dared they to try and get down.
Hjalmar slipped and Tao lunged for him causing Hjalmar to yelp and quickly scramble back up onto the rock. His quick movement caused Bahktiar to lose his balance and grab him to keep from falling in. They clung together and twisted and turned in some pretty bizare contortions as the tried to keep thier balance.
Arina couldn't take any more and lost it,doubling oer in laughter. Dar's laughter joined her's when he too couldn't hold it bak any more. Thier laughter earned them a furious glare from the men on the rock and an amused glande from Tao. Dar saw the glance and breathed a sigh of relief. Tao was back to his old self again. Dar grinned at Tao who grinned in return.
Finally Tao grew tired of the game and went after them. He lunged upwards and knocked both of them into the pool. Hjalmar managed to evade Tao but Bahktiar wasn't so lucky. Tao caught him and proceeded to give him the royal dunking of a lifetime.
"Throw me into the pool will ya." Tao growled.
"Take that!" He shoved Bahktiar underwater then hauled him back up.
" And this!"
Another dunking followed and Tao kept it up until Bahktiar was out of breath then hauled Bahktiar's sorry butt to shore.Arina helped Tao out of the water while Dar and Hjalmar hauled Bahktiar up the bank. Tao leaned over to check on him and got a mouthful of water in his face. Bahktiar was on his feet in a flash and running for the camp before Tao could react.His laghter drifted back to them as he disappeared from view. Tao growled and took off after him.
Dar looked at Hjalmar and rolled his eyes. Hjalmar laughed for the first time since entering the Sanctuary. Shaking his head Hjalmar reached down and picked up his shirt.He held it up for Dar to seeand Dar snickered when he saw that the shirt had been shredded.
"What's the matter Hjalmar? Don't tell me that you can't handle Tao.'
That remark got the shirt thrown in his face. Dar pulled it of his head just in time to catch Hjalmar's glare, "Not when he's like that I can't. Let me guess, this has to do with him being an empath right?"
Dar nodded and exchanged looks with Arina. She looked puzzled and Dar mouthed the word later at her. She nodded then turned back to Hjalmar. Hjalmar had grimaced when Dar had nodded.
"That's what I thought. Well we'll just have to deal with it the best we can. The little runt has been trough so mugh pain alreadylet's not have him go through anymore if we can help it."
A shout followed by a crash alerted them to Bahktiar's capture. They started laughing as his curses filled the air. Arina turned to Dar as they headed back to the camp.
"I know what I'm about to ask is probably wat out of line but... Hjalmar and I were wondering if we could stay here for awhile? With Voden and Zad both on the rampage we have no place safe to go."
Dar threw an arm across Hjalmar's shoulder and slid his other arm around Arina's waist.
"You guys are more than welcomed to stay You can stay as long as you want. Bahktiar too. I know that with his mother dead he's now on the run from Voden too. Speaking of Bahktiar I'd better go rescue him from Tao. See you in the morning."
Dar disappeared up the trail as Arina and Hjalmar returned to the campsite. They quietly settled down for the night and for the first time in a long time they felt safe enough to sleep with both eyes closed. Hjalmar was half asleep when he heard Arina giggle.
"What are you laughing about now?" he asked her.
"Oh nothing really. Just trying to picture what kind of perverted position Dar is going to twist Tao into this time that's all."
"Oh shut up and go to sleep."
Hjalmar's quiet chuckling was the last thing Arina heard before sleep claimed her.
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