Legends of Arkadia - Forgotten World

~ Chapter 8 ~

"A little to the left..." Rune guided Jatari as she placed a large boulder as a headstone at the site of the graves. The ground shook a little under his small feet as she set it down and finally panted a little to catch her breath. She had hardly broken a sweat for the past few hours of hard digging, and had just finished laying the fallen warriors to rest just outside the village. Rune helped her pick a peaceful looking place where the flowers were still in full bloom and where the light of the sunset washed over the graves like a gentle blanket.

Of course Rune couldn't say he felt much loss for a village of people he didn't know, but when he saw the distant look of loss and pain in Jatari's eyes, he felt a knot grow in his chest and his stomach felt more empty than before as he felt sympathy for the hardened warrior. He'd been close to his old tribemates once, and he understood the feeling of loss when a fellow warrior or friend died. This poor woman had lost her entire village and family, and now her only chance at having familiar comfort with her own. Unless she wanted to travel to foreign tribes... Her and her sister were on their own.

Jatari leaned on the hilt of her sword that she had used to help dig, panting and looking over the graves a last time as she gathered her breath. Rune let her have a moment of silence, walking over to one of the flower beds at the edge of the clearing and snapping a stem, walking over to the stone she'd placed with a purple and blue flower that resembled a lily.

He looked over the row of graves his small blue ears going down against his head with a soft bow of respect as he walked forward and lay the flower against the boulder. His heartbeat quickened when Jatari shot a glance at him, but when he turned to look back, he noticed the corner of her lips turning into a faint appreciative smile. Her cold eyes watched him a little warmer this time and she looked back to the graves, bowing her head softly with her eyes closed before turning and walking in the direction Vanna had left to wait with Yuko.

Everything seemed peaceful for the time being, despite the events of the day. Rune followed after the tall feline woman, his ears perking and excitement building when he located Yuko, and he jumped into a run, crawling up his leg and onto his shoulder and then running up his neck, leaning against the seviri's two sets of ears. He giggled when he felt Yuko shiver at the feeling of his tiny feet scurrying up his neck. Yuko let out a laugh and batted at him with his soft paws playfully.

Rune dodged and paused to glance at Vanna who looked distracted by heavy distant thoughts and he decided to distract his friend from troubles of the mind. He grinned playfully and launched into her hair, making her gasp a surprised scream and Yuko laughed at the sight. She laughed when she realized it was just the little mouse and laughed harder when he started to tickle her ears.

"Ah! Stop! Nonono AHAHAH!!~ Eee! Ruhuhuune!" Vanna's laugh was sweet and contagious, making the trio fall over themselves in a laughing hysteria. Jatari smiled and joined in the laughter a few moments later when Vanna suddenly sneezed and Rune flew off her head and back onto Yuko.

It was a long time before everyone stopped crying from laughing so hard. Vanna finally calmed with Jatari as they watched the two unlikely friends play by the boulder, Rune tickling Yuko along his ears and neck, while Yuko would gently try to bat him off with his big soft paws. They tussled and laughed, Rune happy when he looked back to see Vanna with a big refreshed smile on her face.

Even though they'd just met, Rune felt an instant connection with the two sisters, and he knew Yuko felt the same. They'd gotten off on the wrong foot, but after some clarity Rune realized they had a lot in common. They all had no place to go back to, except for maybe Yuko, but young male seviris were more or less kicked out of home sooner or later. They all had experience with the strange invasive fungus that seemed to take over, and they all agreed they needed to find a way to overcome it. They were all determined to survive, and agreed that they were stronger working together. Rune realized that despite the differences they all had...