Hello, Again [WIP]

Chapter 1 - The Road To Redemption

5 years. That's how much time had passed since Prahm, and humans and mutes were living in a seemingly perfect harmony. Kipo was proud of herself, and this was a pride she had earned. After all, if it weren't for the cheery half-mute, the destroyed world would have only continued to fall apart with war and genocide and evil uprisings left and right.

Kipo had come along and somehow fixed the conflict. Of course, it was no easy task, and it had only happened in the first place because she had been ripped away from her home, but that traumatic freak accident had paid off. Now, all of the mutes and humans could just coexist peacefully with conflict never going beyond your average interpersonal fight.

Hoag was still hesitant, even this many years later. He was perfectly respectful and got along with most of the mutes, even forming closer friendships with a select few of them, specifically Jamack. But, a part of him was still put off by it. Maybe it was all the propaganda he heard while on Dr. Emilia's cruise ship, but a part of him still found it odd that humans were now living so peacefully along side the animals that stole their world.

It was a mindset he had worked hard to get past, and each day taught him a new lesson, big or small. Everyday, he learned something new about one of his fellow humans or one of the mutes, and everyday saw the mutes less as mutated animals and more as people. He had truly grown a lot from the loyal right hand man of Dr. Emilia that he had been prior to Prahm, and most of the mutes had forgiven and moved on.

The keyword there was most. Understandably, there were still a few that were not so quick to warm up to him. Specifically, Billions and Amy. Hoag wasn't entirely sure why they specifically hadn't warmed up to him, though. It wasn't that they just didn't vibe. There was something else there, some other source of hostility, even if the two mutes were perfectly respectful. They just really clearly held an anger towards the man.

Now, Hoag was not exactly known for his ability to have important and serious discussions with others when it came to his own missteps in life, but he truly did want to understand why these two were so uncomfortable around him.

For one, he had a reputation to keep up. Regardless of how equal everyone was now treated, the ex-burrow people still saw him as their unofficial leader. If he was having conflict with 2 of his fellow citizens and that leaked out into the public... Well, that may let down a lot of the people who still saw him as a leader.

For two, he actually did care about the mutes, regardless of the part of him that still saw them as animals. Jamack was one of his closest friends at this point, and he was a frog. Hoag felt that he could also get close with Billions specifically, as they actually had a fair bit in common, and he wanted to be on more solid ground with Amy. He couldn't exactly accomplish either if they had an issue with him, and he especially couldn't try to fix things if he didn't even know why they were upset with him.

So, he swallowed his pride. For the sake of his reputation and potential connections with 2 of his fellow citizens, he was going to talk to them. Can't be that hard, surely. Besides, it's like a... Road to redemption in the eyes of those two, right?