Tribal Relations

A/N - So, I always have paper and pen around, just in case I get inspiration. In my kitchen, by my bed, even in my car. So, where do I get the inspiration for the second half of this chapter? In the bloody shower - where I can't possibly have anything to write with!! Very frustrating. But at least it got done. And now I'm off to my company's football tournament. Woot!

I did find it amusing how most of my reviewers were convinced he was going to run away this chapter. Sorry, not that easy for our boy ;)

But thank you, again, for all of the lovely reviews!

Btw, I don't have a beta. I do re-read each chapter several times, so I usually do a decent job of catching typos or grammar errors or whatever. If you do see something, please let me know so I can fix it!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3

The following day, Keil set out to start on his bow. Dragging the furs down to the river, he washed them as quickly as he was able to – which he had to admit was pretty damn slow compared to the other women – and then dragged them back to a clearing he had seen on his way from Grael's hut. It was well out of sight of the village, and he looked around to assure himself that there weren't any signs of anyone having come through this way recently. Draping the furs over a few branches to dry, he started searching. As much as he would like to get home quickly, he wasn't in any danger so long as he was careful, so he would take his time and make a decent bow. Rushing and making a bow that would snap on him the first time he pulled it would either waste more time, or get him killed.

So his first step was to find a branch he could use for the bow, and smaller pieces for arrows. After a couple of hours, he was forced to give up for the day, although he had found a few that would be suitable for arrows. Keil hid his finds in the hollowed out trunk of a fallen tree; not the most secure place, but no one else in the tribe would be expecting him to do it, and hopefully Grael wouldn't either. It was disappointing, however, how little he had actually accomplished. He would want to have at least a few dozen arrows before he made any attempt at escape, and right now he only had a little more than half a dozen. It would be better if he had a larger area to search in, but he didn't want to risk running into one of the other hunters – or Grael. The man seemed nice enough now, but if he knew Keil was trying to get away, it was impossible to guess how he would react.

There had also been a few stones that would work for arrowheads, and a few sharper rocks he could use to shape them and the wood. Of course, the arrowheads would only work if he could sneak enough sinew from Grael's kills to attach them all. Making sure he had enough to attach the feathers was more important, as well as the string for the bow. Still, he wouldn't let himself get discouraged – it was, after all, only his first day working on this. Once he had all the necessary supplies on hand, he could probably be finished in a day or two.

The day was getting late, however, and he wanted to be back before Grael returned. While he thought the hunter would understand his desire to be in the woods as much as possible, he still didn't want to give the older man any reason to suspect what he was doing outside all day. He returned to the hut, glad to see that everything was as he had left it, and threw the now-dry furs back in the corner. While he was at the river, he had noticed that the women hadn't washed the furs every day, but knowing what was going to happen there later...he just felt better cleaning them off. Even if certain stains made him want to disappear into the ground.

It was nearly dark when Grael finally got back, with a brace of hairs for dinner. Unfortunately, they had already been prepared, so there wasn't any bone or sinew he could use for his task. Keil carefully kept his face neutral when he saw that. It was only the first night of his plan, after all; he didn't need the sinew yet; he would have to get the bow before he could fit the bow string, after all.

They moved to the furs and Keil stripped off without prompting. Keil steadfastly avoided the feelings of excitement stirring in him; telling himself over and over that he was just doing this because it was what Grael had demanded. A part of him whispered that he would probably ask for it if Grael didn't automatically give it to him, and he told that voice to go jump off a cliff. He knelt down and moments later felt Grael's hand on his ass, then two fingers pushing into him. He groaned at the intrusion that was more than he was expecting, but Grael slowed down, feeling around for that spot that felt so good. Keil had been half hard by the time he was on the furs, and with just a few strokes he was fully hard and ready for more.

Keil bucked back as he felt Grael's cock touch his ass. It was even less painful than the previous times, and Grael started a slow, steady pace, hitting that same spot inside him with devastating accuracy. Grael kept the same speed until Keil felt like he was going to go insane. He tried to thrust back on the cock inside him, but Grael's hands on his hips kept him still. The arousing torture continued until Keil was ready to sob with frustration.

"Grael..." There was a pleading note to his voice, and he hated how he sounded so needy, but he needed to find his release. The hunter just chuckled and sped up. With the drawn out coupling and the long day he had, Keil's arms quickly gave out on him as the hunter thrust harder and faster into him. As soon as the angle changed, he could feel his end coming, the hard length in him going deeper into him and sliding against his sensitive insides to the point where he couldn't stop from moaning nearly continuously.

One of Grael's hands left his hips and stroked along his swollen cock. It only took a few minutes before his lost control, pumping his release into the hunter's hand. As he came down from his high, he could feel the last of the hunter's orgasm shoot into him. The feeling of his seed hitting his over-sensitive insides, while he was still in that relaxed phase after sex, was still strange, but he didn't feel the same amount of shame he did the first time.

As Grael withdrew, and pulled Keil down into the furs with him to sleep, Keil wondered if it was because at this point, he had already submitted, already been claimed. There wasn't much lower he could go at this point, and he might as well enjoy what he could from his time with Grael's tribe. Soon enough, the bow would be done, and he wouldn't feel anything like this again. ______________________________________________________________________________

Keil looked up when he heard two voices heading towards the hut – Grael's and one he didn't recognize. It had been nearly a week that he had been in Grael's hut and this was the first time anyone other than Grael had come even close to the hut, much less actually came to visit the hunter. He stepped away from the door, and to the furthest corner. Whoever it was didn't particularly sound happy, and he was terrified that he had been found out. If he had been, then he would have to make a dash for the small stash of arrows he had made – not the best weapons in the world, but better to be stuck in the woods with only those as weapons than staying and facing the non-existent mercy of a hostile tribe.

When the two men finally stepped inside, Keil was tentatively relieved to see an older man. If he had been discovered, it would have probably been one of the hunters; possibly the ones that had found him. Grael also looked annoyed but not nervous. Keil still didn't relax completely, but at least he was fairly sure he would live through the night. Still, it didn't look to be a social visit; Grael looked nervous and a bit angry, and the older man looked like he would rather be anywhere than in Grael's hut.

The older man looked him over with a sneer, then stepped forward and grabbed his chin and forced him to look up.

"So, this is the woman you took? I didn't think it was possible, but she's uglier than your mother was." Grael's jaw clenched, but he didn't say anything. After a moment or two more, while Keil did his best to not make eye contact and hope that this man didn't notice anything 'off' about 'her' he released Keil's chin and snorted, stepping away as if it had been a huge hardship to even be near him in the first place.

"Well, you at least have a woman, which is more than I had ever expected. With any luck she'll be sterile. The tribe doesn't need the sort of brats you would have with her. I can't believe a man I raised turned out so badly."

"You didn't raise me." The tone was neutral, but it was obvious to both Keil and the older man that there was a whole lot of anger and hatred behind it.

"I suppose you're right – I didn't. You were too busy hanging onto your worthless mother's dress. Guess I should be grateful you made it to manhood at all."

Keil really wanted to smack the smug look off the older man's face. He had gotten his fair share of scorn in his own village, but he was small and weak. There was nothing neither small nor weak about Grael; nothing he could see that a father should be ashamed of. And at least Keil's father acknowledged him; however reluctantly. This man didn't even seem to want to do that.

It seemed that Grael felt similar, but other than clenching his fists, didn't give any emotion away. "Are you done checking on my woman now Jynath?"

The older man laughed, and headed towards the door. "Yes, I suppose so. Just as ugly and wild as the men claimed she was. But if you're anxious to spend some time with her, well, I won't stop you. I shouldn't be surprised at your tastes."

Grael remained tense until the man's footsteps had faded away then slumped down. Keil didn't want to move, unsure of the other man's mood. Thrusting his catch for the day at Keil, he left the hut.

Sighing, Keil stripped the bird Grael had caught, carefully saving what he could use in a separate pile. While the confrontation had been nerve-wracking, he would have a lot of supplies for his bow after this. He started the meal cooking over the fire, and hurried outside to get rid of the entrails and bones, and dug a second, smaller hole for the parts he would take with him to the clearing the next day.

Grael still wasn't back once he was done, but entered the hut shortly before the meal was finished cooking. Keil was worried when the older man completely ignored him the entire time. The previous week the meals had been more or less silent, but it was because neither particularly had anything to say. This time it felt different – it was tense, and Keil felt that if he moved too quickly or spoke at all, Grael would snap. Keil kept waiting for the tension to pass, but it seemed that the older man had put the hunter into a foul mood for the rest of the night.

Clean up consisted of dirt kicked over the fire to put it out, and Keil cautiously moved towards the furs, not knowing what to expect. Quickly stripping off, he lay down on the furs, hoping that Grael would just want to sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be what the other man had planned.

The larger man pushed Keil down with one hand on his back, and with just a few seconds preparation, consisting of two fingers thrust in and wriggled around briefly, sank into Keil's body. He couldn't help the groan of pain – because of the daily sex, his body still hadn't fully recovered from the first time, and he felt the nearly healed tears re-open. Slumping forward, he gripped the furs, and closed his eyes, hoping it would be over soon. It still wasn't as painful – or as humiliating – as the first time, but it was still bad, and his stomach was threatening to rebel against him.

Even though it was probably only a matter of minutes, it seemed to last for ages, before Grael stopped behind him. Keil couldn't help the whimper when he realized that Grael was still inside him, and that the torture wasn't over yet. He felt so pathetic, lying there under another man, with tears dripping down his face, but he also felt so....what? Betrayed? His feelings were all messed up as well – he had only known Grael for less than a week, and while the man hadn't been cruel previously, he was still keeping Keil captive here. Why would – or should - something like this surprise him?

"Shit. Oh shit...Keil..." Keil groaned as the other man pulled out, slowly but still painfully. Grael's fingers were back at his ass, gently rubbing against the sore skin, and then he felt cloth rubbing up and down his legs, so lightly as to almost tickle. A few minutes later, and the cloth disappeared and he was carefully turned onto his back. Grael's face hovered above his, guilt clear in his eyes.

"Keil, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay?"

"Hurts..."

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry." Grael took a shaky breath, and sat down next to him. "I don't know where that came from...Jynath always makes me mad, but I've never...I've never taken out my anger on anyone else before."

They both sat in silence for a minute, before Keil glanced over at Grael.

"That was your..."

"The man who raised me." Keil's teeth snapped shut, and he nodded. Grael didn't seem inclined to call the man his father; and Jynath hadn't seemed to want to claim Grael as son, and Keil was probably better off not knowing why that was. Although part of him was incredibly curious – even with as disappointing as he was to his father, he had always been acknowledged, albeit reluctantly. Still, it wasn't his place to ask about the other man's business; he was only here out of necessity – he didn't want to be here and Grael didn't want him here.

The silence stretched on; Grael didn't seem inclined to say anything else, although he did keep shooting guilty looks at Keil. Finally the tension got to be too much for Keil, and he turned his strongest glare on the other man. It probably didn't remotely intimidate him, but at least it would hopefully get his point across.

"That hurt."

"I know. I'm sorry." Grael looked like a kicked puppy, but Keil wasn't about to relent.

"Next time you get mad can't you like...punch a wall or something?"

Grael looked at him for a minute in shock, and then smiled slightly. "Got it. Take out my anger on nonliving things." He sighed. "I really am sorry. I acted just like he would..."

Keil shook his head. "No, you didn't. You let your anger get away from you, but you stopped, and were sorry. It hurts, but I'll survive. "Keil shrugged.

"Thank you." The two words seemed to carry a lot more behind them, and Keil just nodded, worn out from the stressful evening. They lay down, and Grael hesitated before pulling Keil into his arms as he normally did. Keil went willingly, and while thoughts were still swimming around in his head, he quickly succumbed to sleep.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Nothing got done on his bow the following day. After spending some time doing his best to clean the spots of blood off the furs, he had retreated back to the hut to think about the previous night. He knew he felt shocked and upset by the other man's brutal actions, even if Grael had stopped and immediately apologized. Keil had probably forgiven him too easily, but he wouldn't be able to leave until the bow was done, and he was well aware that some of the men in the tribes did that and worse to their women without blinking. So in order to return to the relatively comfortable companionship they had shared for the past week, it was really the best thing to do.

There had also been the urge to try and talk to him, find out more about both him and his past. Jynath was clearly a bad topic, but the man had mentioned Grael's mother – a couple of times – and that the man had apparently been closer to her than most male children were to their mothers. It was possible that if Grael was sympathetic towards the women of the tribe that the men would look down on him for that, but he couldn't see them scorning him for it to the point where he was such an outcast. Keil really wanted to figure out the mystery.

What he couldn't figure out was why. Even if the real fault lay at the hands of the hunters who captured him, Grael was still keeping him here against his will. He was using him as a woman – even if, with the exception of the first and last times, it was pleasurable to him as well. So how come he had such a strong urge to find out more, to know what made him mad – and what made him happy?

The answer came to him hours later, when he had gone down for the water for dinner. Other than his brother, he had never had an actual friend. Even if this was a living arrangement forced on both of them – Grael was starting to become a friend.