Finding Contentus

Chapter 10: New Settlement

Two more days had passed. The sun of dawn had gone down and the first dim embers of the twinkling stars had begun to appear in the sky. The three moved at a cautious and moderate pace, staying vigilant and straying away from the imminent danger of primals, led in herds by the tall and enormous alpha primals.

Because of this constant state of alert and worry, there was hardly any time for the newly found family to partake in the idle chit chat that they had wished to do.

The only few times that they would converse were related to all the instructions and directions Renero would give out to his children, with the twins following and paying heed to his every word.

The other times were in the more quiet moments wherein they would stop to eat and drink, allowing some words other than the tasks at hand to bounce back and forth off them.

Normal talk such as the twins telling their father of all the animals they played with growing up, even the more dangerous animals such as snakes, rhinos, hippos and wildebeests that they communicated with.

Neosa would often describe their experiences with their friends as playing, whereas Genesia described them as fooling around, noting several times that they probably could have gotten killed with their adventurous antics, had it not been for their natural capabilities and the others stepping in to scold them.

These tiny stories allowed Renero to reminisce on his own adventures when he was younger with his older brother Amoar, telling them about how their uncle was always like the stern and "chilled out" parent to him whilst he himself was always the eager troublemaker.

It was within these small, brief, moments of conversing with one another that the twins started to see more and more familiarities with their father, which only drove their curiosity that much more.

Likewise, hearing his children talk filled Renero with so much kindred excitement, the likes he hadn't felt in a very long time. To say that he loved the idea of having twins was an understatement. Unfortunately, he held himself back from engaging in more talk with his children, having to put all of his focus on the task of getting them to wherever they needed to get to.

The twins noted how their father was able to swiftly switch between commands and ways of speaking at any moment's notice when it came to slowing down, speeding up and stopping. All of which they had to quickly react to in order to deal with the close encounters of nearby primals as they ventured further and further.

Their father explained that primals were directed by pure, primal instinct and senses akin to that of wild animals with the scary factor of human adaptability and evolution in learning, hence the need to subdue their presence as much as possible using stealth stalking.

Not that they really needed much explanation having experienced and seen them first hand, but they remembered what their father said about their being much more to the world.

They still hadn't even the faintest idea of how Renero managed to survive in the outside world all this time. But he did, and it was sure to be something incredible to the likes that they had never imagined whenever he decided to tell them. For the time being, they merely followed his every lead.

When they were allowed little breaks to lay low, he would revert back to his usual charismatic and joking self, albeit with less spirit and genuine spark.

Even when they passed by a freshwater lake and saw an Inkanyamba. It was a humongous eel-like mythical creature that had large fins and ink-like beads for eyes.

Renero communicated to allow them to swim in the freshwater lake safely in order to reach the other side. Genesia and Neosa patted the serpentine creature, receiving static shocks to their nervous systems and buzzing skin as the Inkanyamba's way of being friendly instead of hostile to them. It made the twins giggle before they watched the creature swim away.