Going Home by scheherezhad

Rating: light R

Summary: Tao is going home when he runs into someone he didn't expect to see again.

Disclaimer: Why, yes, I do own BeastMaster. That's why I'm so damned rich. </sarcasm>

Author's notes: For Trin and April. Finally. Fricking finally. Post season 3.

Three days. Dar had been gone for three days, and Tao was already lost. Not lost geographically, but he didn't have a companion, a purpose anymore. He'd smiled for Dar when he left, had slung his arm around Arina's shoulders and pretended that he wasn't a breath away from begging Dar to stay, to take him along, anything. He'd kept pretending until he and Arina had parted ways. Once he'd left her behind, he stopping pretending and experienced real silence for the first time in his life.

He'd wandered in that silence for three days, hadn't seen another person or even many animals, and he was talking to himself to fill the space. It probably meant that he was moving on, but it felt a little cold to think that he was getting over losing the man he'd slowly fallen in love with over three seasons. It would be for the best, though. He was already heading for the mountains past Xinca; he would go there and return to his people, like he'd promised. What was left of his people, anyway.

A noise caught his attention, then, a rustling in the bushes. It sounded too deliberate to be an animal.

"Who's there?" he called. "Hello?"

To his left, a dirty figure emerged from the tall brush.

"Voden!" He almost didn't believe what he was seeing. The boy king stood before him, looking tired and ill. His skin was smeared with dirt as if he hadn't bathed in days. His bottom lip was scabbed where it had been split open.

"Beastmaster's friend—Tao." He stumbled forward a bit. "Still alive, I see."

"I thought you'd died when Zad took over Xinca."

"But I'm here now," Voden said, spreading his arms dramatically.

Tao saw the blood crusted on the side of his shirt. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He quickly put his arms down, tucking them against himself protectively. "So where is your Beastmaster? I hardly expected to see one of you without the other."

"Dar...left to be with his family. I'm traveling on my own now." Tao started walking, and Voden followed, so he continued talking. "I'm going back to my people soon. You didn't get them all, you know. What have you been doing since you disappeared, anyway?"

"Surviving." He sounded uncharacteristically dark. Until his stomach growled loudly. "I don't suppose you have any food, do you?"

"I have a bit of fruit that I can share. You don't have anything of your own? That's not good practice for travelers."

"My stores ran out two days ago, and I hadn't encountered anyone yet with whom I could...trade for more."

"Well, I can show you some plants around here that you can eat, and that way you won't have to rely on trading to eat. Like that," Tao said, pointing at a scrubby green thing. "The roots of that plant can be boiled with fruit or vegetables to make a jelly that keeps for several suns, if you store it properly. It's good for trading, as well. What have you been trading for supplies?"

"Do you always talk so much?"

Tao saw the how Voden looked away and clutched at his stomach briefly. He traded himself, then. "I've always been a talker because it's the only way to share my knowledge or what I'm thinking. And right now, I'm trying to share something that you need to know, too."

Voden sighed. "My apologies. Do go on."

"It can wait, I suppose. Do you have a camp? I can make a stew."

The blond man hesitated, then started off in a slightly different direction. "It's this way."

His camp was a little ways off and was nothing more than a tiny, cleared patch of dirt under some low trees. He had a pallet of grasses and leaves against a boulder to shelter himself from the elements, a fire pit, and a small hiding place for his belongings.

Tao took his own small cooking bowl from his pouch. It was only large enough for one person at a time, but he could wait and make his own dinner after Voden's. As he prepared the vegetables and herbs, he started talking again.

"How old are you, Voden?"

"Nineteen winters."

"Oh, you measure your age in winters? The Eirons measure in summers—I'm twenty-three. You know, I'd really like to learn about your culture. I find your people fascinating, and I have so many questions. If you'd let me, I'd like to stay with you for a few days so you can answer them."

Voden paused in building the fire. "You'll teach me about your plants?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll answer your questions."

Tao woke up feeling pleasantly warm and heavy. He had spent the rest of the night asking question after question. For every one answered, he had a dozen more, and Voden finally begged off and went to sleep. He woke with the blond man tucked against his side, but they didn't mention it. Even Tao knew when to leave certain topics undiscussed.

They wandered the woods that day, and Voden learned what plants could provide food and what herbs could be used to heal him. He showed a remarkable capacity for retaining what Tao told him. When the sun began to go down, they took turns bathing and eating. Tao went to bathe first, and while he made his dinner, he pondered what questions he would ask when Voden returned.

Voden came back to camp as the sun sank below the horizon, and Tao had to stare. He'd taken his time at the stream and washed away all the blood and dirt. His skin looked smooth and translucent like it had when he'd ruled Xinca. His hair was spiky with dampness. Instead of the rough woven shirt and skin breeches he'd been wearing, he had changed into his white pants and boots, and his sheer, embroidered white shirt. He looked like the boy king he had once been, and the last rays of the sun made him glow.

He sat down very close to Tao and put a hand on his knee. "There's a chill in the air tonight. Shall I keep you warm?"

"What are you—"

"Repaying your kindness." And Voden kissed him.

Tao wanted to speak, but Voden's tongue slid into his mouth, and he lost his words. Every time he tried to pull back to talk, Voden followed and kept him quiet. At some point, they stumbled over to the blond man's pallet and ended up in a tangle. They undressed as they kissed.

His hands found soft, warm skin and lean muscle. There were slightly raised stripes and patches of scar tissue. He followed them with fingers and lips, and he sank into Voden's heat. With slow, deliberate movements, Voden coaxed Tao into a rhythm, and he stopped Tao's flood of words by kissing him into silence. Even then, Tao made small noises in the back of his throat.

Tao was overwhelmed with it all, but he made sure that Voden came first. When it was over, they went back to the stream and cleaned up. For once, Tao didn't have anything to say. By a soft touch and a look that Tao would have called shy on anyone else, Voden asked him to sleep together again, and Tao relented.

It wasn't love by any stretch of the imagination, but it was affection and intimacy freely offered. During the days, they shared their knowledge, and at night, they shared their bodies. They didn't part until almost two moons had passed. Tao felt good; he still loved Dar and missed him, but he knew now that there could be others. He could be happy.

The mountains beckoned him now, and he turned to them with a new lightness. Time to go home.