David had a slight problem with the clothes that Nathan had given him to change into. The shirt fit him, he guessed. It was still a little too long, coming down to his mid-thighs. The buttons were complicated too. He had tried to put them in their correct spot for too long. Eventually, however, he got the hang of it. 

David had put on the same underwear he had on before, only because the clothes he was borrowing were Nathan's and he didn't feel like sharing underwear. 

No, the real problem was the pants. He had tried to use his creative mind to solve the problem, but it wasn't working. Nathan's wider waist was too big for David's small, slim waist; therefore, every time he pulled up the pants, they fell right off.

The only other option was to walk out of the bathroom, where Nathan was waiting, in just an oversized shirt and underwear. Or he could call for Nathan and ask him for a smaller pair.

Does Nathan even have a smaller pair? David wondered. The only clothes he was keen on wearing were Nathan's. He did not want to share pants with a random stranger, the thought itself made him uncomfortable. For a moment, he thought of General Reno, but the thought made the leshy cringe. Even if General Reno wanted to share his pants, they may have the same waist size, but Reno's legs were much shorter.

David glanced back at his other, ratty pants. He had been wearing those pants for much too long. So long, that it was not hygienic for him to wear them any longer. Those pants have been through a whole war, only because David normally did not have spare human clothes to change into.

He did not want to put them on again.

Nathan wouldn't mind it, would he? David wondered, blushing. He had seen many women in Jake's pack wear the clothes of their mates, and their mates adored it. Would Nathan also adore it? Or was that just a possessive werewolf thing?

David's hands hovered over the doorknob, then retracted as if he had been burned.

What am I thinking?! he asked himself, I can't just go out there like this!

His leshy suddenly grunted, which startled David, and made him blush. He forgot his inner leshy was in there sometimes, silently listening to his thoughts.

Suddenly, he remembered before the war against the Aswangs. Jake, Derrick, Nathan, and he were in the living room of Derrick's castle. Before he and Nathan were soulmates, and they were just two men who were crushing on someone who wasn't their soulmate. Yet.

He had asked Jake what it was like to have another voice in his head, talking all of the time.

Jake replied something else, but what David remembered was, "You always have someone in your head that knows all your problems and is there to help you solve them."

Could his leshy help him?

He thought for a moment.

Grunt if I should go out there, David said, for the first time really, talking to his leshy. They had a rocky past with each other, which made it sort of awkward to talk to the voice in his head.

So, there was no one he was solely confident talking to besides himself and, maybe in the future, Nathan too.

 Suddenly, his leshy grunted again. David's eyes widened.

Okay, so my inner voice is telling me to go out there, David thought to himself, Should I?

Meanwhile, Nathan was laying on his bed, waiting for his soulmate to walk out of the bathroom. He was concerned with the amount of time it was taking for David to exit. The king was starting to worry if his queen was okay, or if he needed to go save him.

Then he remembered a giant tree monster beating evil demon witches out of the sky, and was reminded that David was perfectly fine on his own. He may be adorable, shy, and skinny, but he was no damsel in distress.

In fact, David could probably defeat even General Reno at a fight, which comforted Nathan, knowing that David could never really be in danger, even if he wasn't there to keep him safe.

Suddenly, he heard the clack of the door opening, which made his head swivel to the left. Out stepped David, but Nathan did not expect him to come out in only a large shirt of his and underwear. The sight of his soulmate's bare legs and his cute butt and the hidden bulge in the front made Nathan's heart go in a frenzy. The king's fingers itched to touch him. Nathan's eyes had widened at the surprise, but were most likely blown open at the sight of his beautiful queen before him.

"Wow," Nathan whispered in awe. David fiddled with his fingers and bit his lip, which made Nathan's heart faint. 

"Uh, the uh, the pants didn't fit," he explained, blushing so much. Nathan just wanted to scoop him up and kiss every inch of his red face.

"That's okay," Nathan said, clearing his throat so that it came out of a whisper. He knew it was later at night since they had arrived; he could tell from his half-covered window. It was time for bed, and now, he couldn't wait. He lifted the covers, inviting David in. "Come on, it's time to go to bed."

David looked nervously at the bed, and his blush deepened. However, he knew that Nathan wouldn't try anything unless he was comfortable. He didn't know how he knew that, but he was sure it was because of the bond.

So, David walked over toward the bed and slid under the inviting covers. Nathan wrapped his thicker, strong arms around his waist, snuggling his face into David's back happily. David decided that a soulmate wearing their soulmate's clothes was not just a thing that werewolves adored. Humans also enjoyed it too. The leshy made a mental note in his head to remember that.

Nathan, however, was not just enjoying it. He was loving it. Especially later in the night, when David was fast asleep and rolling around, Nathan would get little brushes of his skin against his fingertips. Little things like that made him shiver with happiness and filled his dreams with fantasies about the future.

~{()}~

The next day, David was excited. Nathan was going to show him around the kingdom that day. He couldn't wait to see all of the new things, nor could he wait to see why Nathan's kingdom was so vastly different from Derrick's.

He decided to ask Nathan over breakfast.

"Why is your kingdom so much different compared to Derrick's?" David asked him. It seemed happier at this kingdom than the kingdom he had lived next to his whole life. Freer, and perhaps, more supportive of others.

"Our kingdom is richer," Nathan explained, "We have the most money, the most currency."

"And why is that?" David asked, curious, "How does your kingdom have more money than everyone else?"

"Because we are closest to the sea," Nathan explained, "We own the most accessible docking port for people coming into this domain. People pay us more to come into our land; plus, since most ships dock here, there are more people in this kingdom, meaning more taxes are being taken."

David did not understand half of the things Nathan was talking about. He did not understand the concept of physical money. In his forest, and the forest where he grew up, the only currency was kindness. If you helped a mama bear find her lost cub, she might let you sleep in her den for the night. That was the most comfortable way to sleep, next to a bear, David had once thought. But now, he was most comfortable sleeping next to Nathan.

"And why do you need the money?" David asked, "Is it not just a waste of space?"

"Not to most people," Nathan replied, "It helps the kingdom prosper more. You can buy things for your kingdom. You can lower the taxes some, which will invite more people into the kingdom. And, especially in this kingdom, it is warmer here, so there is a lesser chance of people dying during winter. A lot of people like to move here when taxes are low."

David's nose scrunched in distaste. But why couldn't people live here for free? Why was the extra money needed? He didn't want to pester too much, so he dropped the subject.

"I'm glad you can defend yourself, though," Nathan continued, "Because a lot of people are jealous of this land. Especially the kingdom up north, ruled by King William Kain. He's a madhouse, gone completely crazy trying to take my kingdom away from me, so that he can have the wealth. If he finds out about you, you might be in danger. I would pay to see his face when you turn into a giant tree monster."

David smiled to himself, also imagining it.

"Did I hear 'giant tree monster' your majesty?" Arnold asked. He was standing off to the side, waiting for any surprise orders from the king. However, he was directly listening to their conversation, and couldn't help himself but speak up.

"Yes," Nathan shrugged, not trying to hide it, "You heard correctly. David has the ability to turn into a giant war beast."

"That's preposterous," Arnold scoffed, not believing it. He looked at David, a shy and skinny pale boy, then looked back at Nathan with the most deadpan face. As if he was silently asking, "Where's the punchline?"

"Are you calling my bluff?" Nathan asked, with an eyebrow raise. Signaling that yes, he was a jokester sometimes, but this time he was completely serious.

Arnold got the hint and looked back at David. The leshy knew that he was still in disbelief.

"Well if he's such a good fighter, we should put him against King Kain's troops," Arnold suggested, "General Reno would enjoy not having to er, as he so eloquently says it 'put up with his sh*t' any longer."

David was about to agree that he would help, but then Nathan suddenly interrupted.

"No," he said, vehemently. 

"What do you mean? I could-" David started, but Nathan shut him down.

"No," he repeated, "I won't have you risking yourself in any way. You are my soulmate, who I have been waiting for my entire life, and I will not lose you as soon as I get you."

David wanted to argue. He wanted to fight and end whatever squabble the two kings were in. He wanted to give General Reno less stress. He wanted to help. But then he imagined if Nathan wanted to fight as well. He imagined, and afterward, he decided that he would agree with Nathan.

As long as Nathan wouldn't walk into any wars, neither would he. For the sake of them both.

"Okay," David nodded, then said softly, "I understand."

Nathan knew that he would because they were soulmates, and soulmates were meant to understand one another.

"I think it's time for you to see the kingdom," Nathan replied, and David's smile returned. Within the conversation, David had forgotten how excited he was to explore the kingdom.

He couldn't wait.

~{()}~

David didn't have enough eyes. Argus, the immortal giant with a hundred eyes, was the only creature with multiple eyes that David knew of.  And David could shift into a different species, but not a specific person.

Therefore, he could not shift into anything that could allow him to see everything at once.

But he wished he could.

A million things were happening around him. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. But he could not focus on one single thing.

They had traveled through the town square. David had tried a portion of that strange food he saw the vendor selling. They were called meat pies, according to Nathan, who strolled along the streets with him. David knew what meat was: it was the flesh of animals. But he tried it anyway. 

He may be the guardian of the forest, but he was no vegan. Plants were part of the forest, and he ate those. So he found no wrong in eating the flesh of animals as well. It was the nature of the forest, the circle of life, for one thing to eat another thing. And David respected that.

However, he would never kill an innocent animal. Ever. He only ate the ones that were already dead. He mostly ate plants due to this fact, but since the humans had already killed the animal for this food, he felt that it would be dishonorable to the animal if he let it waste.

David had also met a dog on his way through the town square. The dog was happy and cute, and David loved how it almost purred underneath his touch. Leshiye were naturally in tune with animals, but this animal still seemed kinder to him than most.

"Want to go see the sea?" Nathan asked as David pet the dog. David gasped, and immediately stood up straight. He had never seen the sea before. He usually didn't venture far from his forest, which is not near the ocean. But he has heard tales of it from the locals. He had known that the sea's water gave flow to the rivers. That giant fish and other large, beautiful creatures lived in it. 

He couldn't wait to see it for himself.

"Yes!" he cried out, happiness bursting from his seams. Nathan held out a hand, which David grabbed, and they started walking in a direction, while the happy dog followed them. 

~{()}~

After rolling around in the sand, watching dolphins surface, and talking to each other about what it would be like in the future, when they were even closer, they decided to head back to the castle. It was almost evening, time for dinner, and they were raring to get home and eat.

They took the dog home with them too, after minutes of David pleading for Nathan to keep him.

Nathan just couldn't say no.

However, when they got back to the castle, they were greeted by a frantic Arnold, who looked as if he just had the shock of his life.

"Sire!" he yelled, losing his cool, collected atmosphere, "There's a woman in the dining area, who looks...well, she looks like the princess."

"What?" Nathan asked, confused. David's eyes widened.

"She claims to be your sister," Arnold explained, and David gasped. Nathan froze.

David and Nathan were wondering the same things.

Isn't she dead?