Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 5: The Cult of the Crimson Isles

Chapter 3

Pretty dialogue-heavy this time. I promise, there’s a bunch of action coming up very soon!

-Llox

___________________________________________________________________________________

“So this fin-thing-”

“Sail.”

“Right, sail, it just… catches the wind to make the boat move?” Lykou commented as Hoku adjusted the sail a bit. Once Kuna got onto the boat, the konuul had set his things onboard with him, then hopped into the water without his shirt to help them push the boat the boat out past a certain point, so he was now stretched out on one side of the boat to dry off, while Makani sat cross-legged near his feet, barely hiding her impatience to get to story time. But for the moment he was fascinated by the concept of sailing and was actually quite enjoying the experience. “Man, we definitely need to try making some of these back at Lakefire, this beats the heck out of rowing all the time!”

“Mhmm. I imagine so. Wouldn’t want to go this far on paddling alone,” Hoku commented as she finished adjusting the sail.

“Yeah, sailing is great,” Makani said dismissively, then poked the canid’s leg lightly with a clawtip. “Now I do believe you were going to tell us something interestiiiiing?”

Lykou chuckled. “Fair enough. Well, it all started back… shit, I guess it’s been over a month ago now, at least. Maybe a month and a half. It’s… kind of embarrassing how things started out,” he said, shooting Kuna an awkward grin before continuing. “Let’s just say we both ended up taking shelter in a cave together during a freak thunderstorm, and well…”

Kuna decided to tune out the conversation for the moment and just stare out at the sea, leaving the story-telling up to Lykou for the time being. He was sitting on the other side, across from Hoku. Initially, he’d wanted to stay by his friend’s side, but they’d explained that Makani would need to be on that side to help guide them when they got closer to the other island. In any case, there were more dead fish on that side, which disturbed him. Both sides had a few baskets full of the things, but there were slightly more on the other side, to the point that one basket was sitting above deck, next to Makani.

He wasn’t the only one that ended up tuning out the conversation, however. To his surprise, he eventually picked up the feeling he was being intensely watched. He looked up to see Hoku scrutinizing him with an unreadable expression. When she caught him looking back, she quickly turned her attention back to the sail for a moment, making sure they were still on course before anchoring into position and tying the handle she’d been using down. The sereva shifted around a bit, wondering what had caught her attention but too anxious to mentioning it.

Eventually, he turned his attention away again, trying not to think about it. But as he stared down in the water, his eyes widened and he gawked at something. For just a moment, he thought he saw an enormous pair of faint, glowing eyes deep below the waves, staring up at him. He quickly looked up to see if anyone else noticed anything, but when he looked back, they were gone.

Hoku noticed his odd behavior and furrowed her brows. “You alright?” she asked quietly, while the other two continued to chatter away on the other side of the vessel.

“I uh… I just… thought I saw something… down there.”

She arched a brow. “Like what?”

“...a giant pair of eyes…” he nervously replied, wary of how it might sound.

Hoku shrugged. “Trick of the sunlight on the water. Or some big fish. You get some pretty huge ones out this deep.”

Kuna gulped and stared back down into the water. “Just… how deep is it anyway?”

“Who knows? Goes down forever out this far, as far as I can tell. The ocean’s huge. Stories tell about all kinds of strange things down there.”

The sereva shuddered and hunkered back into the boat, suddenly far more concerned about making sure he stayed out of the water. “I don’t think I want to know.”

Hoku couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Nothing to worry about. Even if they’re true, those things don’t come to the surface. They live in the Great Abyss.”

Kuna looked up curiously. “Great Abyss?”

“Mhmm. It’s like another world connected to our own through the ocean.”

“Ocean? What’s that?”

She gave him a look. “...uh. The thing we’re on right now? You know, all the water?”

The sereva gave her a perplexed look of his own, then glanced out across the waves. “Is that what this lake is called? Never seen one so huge before.”

Hoku stifled a snicker. “Lake? Kuna, this isn’t a lake. Lakes are bits of water in the land. The ocean is… well it’s the big bit of water that all the land sits in.”

Kuna stared at her for a moment. “R… really? I… never heard of such a thing…”

“Really? I’m surprised. Makes me wonder about where you two are from. You’ve really never seen the ocean before?”

Kuna thought for a moment, scratching his head. “...well, when I was little there was this one lake- or what I thought was a lake anyway- that had salty water like this and seemed to grow and go on forever in one direction. I just figured it seemed that way to me at the time because I was little though. But maybe it was part of the, uh… ocean, I guess.”

“Huh… guess you live on a much bigger piece of land if you only ever saw it once,” Hoku mused. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced over to Lykou as he was animatedly describing some part or another of his and Kuna’s journey to a very enthralled Makani. She turned back to the sereva, then slid over next to him and turned to let her legs hang off the side of the boat, occasionally dipping into the water as it rushed past. He shied away slightly, but didn’t dare slide over, afraid of getting too close to the back edge himself.

“Er… you sure you want to stick your feet in there, given… you know,” he asked after a moment, gesturing down into the water, where he was thoroughly convinced nightmares were lurking. “What’s down there somewhere? Or might be anyway?”

She snorted. “Like I said, they don’t really scare me. They’re way, way down there if they’re there at all. Surface is fine. Nice, even,” she said, slowly kicking her legs around in the water as the boat coasted through the waves at a steady pace.

“If you say so,” Kuna said, warily eyeing the water.

After a moment, she looked back up at him with a thoughtful look. “Hey… you said someone taught you magic, right?”

The sereva folded his ears down and looked away somewhat awkwardly. “Y… yeah.”

“So it wasn’t something some spirit gave you, you just had to learn it?”

“Mhmm. The energy comes from the spirit world, and I gather sometimes spirits might teach some people to use it, but otherwise that’s generally all they have to do with it.”

“Yeah, that makes sense actually,” the raptuva mumbled under her breath and trailed off for a moment, then quickly continued when she realized she’d said it out loud, quick to move on, “So is magic common for your people?”

“I wouldn’t say common, exactly... but there’s usually a few in each tribe. We have these folks called spirit-weavers that do various things like protect us, help us stay hidden, navigate-”

“Navigate?” she asked, perking up. “How’s that?”

“Er. Using so-… er, star magic. Sereva tribes are usually on the move a lot of the time. We don’t usually stay in one place.”

She stared at him with wide-eyed wonder. “You don’t say… I uh, don’t suppose you know that star-magic stuff yourself, do you?”

“Actually I do,” Kuna said, shifting around a bit. “It’s how I know the arch we’re looking for is off that way. I don’t know a lot about it yet, but I can at least do that.”

She gawked at him some more, making him increasingly uncomfortable. When she realized his discomfort, she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, just… the old stories our people tell talk about our ancestors using magic just like that in the past to explore the ocean. Supposedly we used to move around a lot, too, until we settled on this island.”

“Really?” Kuna asked, then frowned. “Why’d you stop?”

“No more navigators,” she said, then sighed and stared with a somewhat bitter, distant expression out across the water. “Or magic users at all, for that matter…” she mumbled.

“What about that, er… Kairangi guy?”

She glared out across the water silently for a minute, then turned to look him over for a minute. “...he doesn’t have that kind of magic.”

“Oh. Just, what, life magic then?”

She scoffed and looked away again. “Yeah. Sure. Life. And supposedly fire, but I think that’s just Tuimana’s doing. That or cheap tricks.”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“Just… a hunch,” Hoku replied, avoiding meeting his gaze.

The sereva arched a brow, then shrugged and rubbed his neck. “Well, I guess I haven’t met any non-spirits that can use anything other than life and maybe star magic. Other than a few… special cases, but they’re arguably not fully mortal anyway. So I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right about that.”

Hoku glanced away and bit her lip, then brushed a thought away, deciding to leave it unspoken. “Special cases huh?” she asked instead.

“Long story. Which Lykou’s telling your friend over there right now, if you’re really interested.”

“Mm, already missed a bunch of it, from the sounds of it. I’ll just get it from Makani later.” She looked over to check that they were still on course, then turned her attention back to the sereva. On several occasions she seemed like she wanted to say something but kept stopping herself. Finally, she just settled on, “Hey, um… while you’re on the island, you should… be discrete about your magic.”

“Oh? Not that I’m inclined to go showing off a lot, but any particular reason why?”

She hesitated briefly. “Just… trust me. The few magic users we had other than the high speaker all ended up conveniently turning out to be ‘heretics’ and being taken away. And the speaker’s goons won’t say what happened to them. You’ll be under scrutiny as it is just for being outsiders, anyway.”

Kuna gulped. “N-noted…”

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, most folks here are really friendly and easy-going. They’ll just be excited to meet someone new, like Kani over there,” she assured him. “Just… watch out for the red cloaks. Can’t miss ‘em, the clue is in the name really.”

The sereva nodded. “Works for me. Like Kou said, I’m n-not much of a people person anyway.”

“Heh, yeah. I know the feeling. Hope I’m not bothering you too much.”

“N-nah. You seem nice.”

Hoku smiled. “Thanks, you do too. I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, but you give off a generally positive, I don’t know… energy, or something,” she said, then quickly added, “Er, figuratively speaking, I mean. Not like, mystical energies or whatever. Obviously. Not to say that you might not be- I mean you’re probably not, but-” she sputtered, then facepalmed. “You know what, I’ll just stop talking.”

Kuna gave her an amused look. “I think I get the point. And thanks… have to admit that’s a new one.” Truth be told, he’d started noticing that he got certain vibes from some people that made it easier for him to warm up to them than others- Moyra and Aelana (after the initial scare), for example. And most of the spirits he’d met. He wondered if it might have something to do with his budding familiarity with soul energy. Now he wondered if he was somehow subconsciously projecting it back at them somehow.

Before either of them could say another word, however, Lykou caught both their attention. “Woah, hey! Is there a big fire up on the mountain?”

Kuna looked to see where he was pointing. They were still a good way from what larger island so they could see the mountain without craning their necks. Some large plumes of smoke were billowing from its peak, and it almost looked like there was a faint orange-red glow there as well, though it was hard to tell in the daylight.

“Oh, nah, that’s just Tuimana’s breath. He sleeps inside the mountain and it comes out sometimes,” Makani nonchalantly explained. “Which is fine by me, he needs his rest. He gets cranky when he’s real active.”

“His… breath?” Lykou asked, arching a brow. “I didn’t know spirits breathed…”

“Most don’t, from what I know,” Kuna agreed, similarly curious. “So, what, is the mountain hollow or something?”

“Well… yes and no? Maybe? Nobody knows for sure, because nobody’s been inside it except Tuimana and, well… Kairangi. Supposedly. There’s a hole at the top of the mountain, but it’s way too hot to go down inside it.”

“So how the heck does Kairangi manage it?”

“His ‘special pact’ with Tuimana, supposedly,” Hoku interjected, then shrugged. “Assuming it’s even true.”

“Ooo, careful not to say that too loud,” Makani teased. “Don’t want the red cloaks hearing about you doubting their great leader.”

“Unless you’ve suddenly had a dramatic change of heart and plan on tattling on me, I’m not too worried about it out here,” Hoku replied with a smirk. “I can’t imagine those cloaks make swimming easy, let alone out this far.”

“I get the distinct impression you’re not a fan of their particular streak of spirituality,” Lykou mused with a faint smirk. “Are they really that bad?”

Hoku shot him a brief look, then turned to adjust the sail again. “Let’s just say I think things were fine before their little ‘movement’ got going. And they unofficially run the island even if they’re in theory only supposed to be in charge of spiritual matters.”

“What are they all about anyway? Just… making sure people respect Tuimana and stuff?”

“They claim to protect the island from corrupt spirits and their servants at his behest. Most people buy into it, but I have my doubts.”

“I mean… corrupt spirits, demons, are very much a thing,” Kuna said, then shuddered. “Believe me, I know.”

“Really?” Hoku asked with a small amount of skepticism.

“Yeah, weren’t you listening to Lykou??” Makani said, crossing her arms. “Poor Kuna was attacked by one as a kid. It orphaned him and everything!” She turned to Kuna with a sympathetic look. “By the way I owe you a huge hug about that when we go ashore.” She then grinned and winked after adding, “Whether you want it or not.”

Kuna blushed and folded his ears back a bit with a shy expression. Lykou chuckled. “Oh trust me, he doesn’t mind hugs at all. He’s adorable like that.”

“Oh hush,” the sereva retorted with a small eye roll, grinning in spite of himself.

“Aww, I see what you mean!”

“So… you’ve actually had contact with one, huh? Damn, here I was thinking they made them up.”

“I mean, it’s entirely possible they’re still exaggerating. Not like people given power for legit reasons never abuse it,” Kuna pointed out with a shrug. “From the sound of it, I’d be at least a bit skeptical, too.”

“Exactly! Finally, someone who gets it.”

“Still, we should be careful if there’s even a chance for demons around here,” Lykou pointed out, shooting a concerned look at his friend. “What with your… condition and all. Didn’t Daisy and Aelana say you’re more vulnerable to them as a result?”

Kuna frowned and fidgeted uncomfortably. “Fair point… in that case I really hope they’re making it all up.”

“Condition?” Hoku asked.

“Yeah, I mean… being attacked by a demon-possessed ursaran as a kid is bound to leave an impact, you know? I… recently found I… well…” Kuna lowered his head and looked away, seemingly a bit self-conscious about it. “I… have a slightly… cracked soul.”

“C.. cracked… soul??” Hoku stared at him with wide eyes. “I… didn’t know that was even a thing!”

“That’s one hell of a battle scar, dude,” Makani chimed in. “Does it… hurt?”

“Heh, not in a physical sense, no,” Kuna said, laughing sardonically. “Mostly I just have this recurring nightmare every once in a while I have to deal with.”

“Luckily you’ve got Aelana and Daisy to help teach you how to use your magic to battle that now, too.”

“Yeah, and you to comfort me.” Kuna smiled at the konuul, who returned the smile. Makani squealed slightly. “Ohmygosh you two are cute.”

Lykou blushed and laughed. “What? It’s what friends are for, after all.”

“Oh, I thought-”

Suddenly Makani was interrupted as a few white birds swooped down and started snatching up some of their caught fish.

“HEY!” she shouted at them, swatting them away.

“Ugh, fucking gulls again,” Hoku groused, grabbing the oar she’d stowed away under the deck. Makani did similarly on her side, smacking the birds with fervor. Lykou got up and started helping out, though he did so somewhat shakily, still not used to standing on a moving boat. Kuna stood up with even more instability and weakly tried to help out, but ended up stumbling over and nearly falling overboard a few times, until finally he just stayed down and tried his best to swat away any birds that got too close to where the baskets of fish were stored. He hated that he couldn’t seem to help out much, given that there was no plant life close enough that he could manipulate.

Eventually, though, the gulls were chased off. The boat was light a few fish, but luckily they’d kept most of their catch, especially with the added help. Hoku flopped back down, making the boat rock slightly. “Ugh, it never fails. They always show up around this time of day and pick two or three fishing boats to harass.”

“Yeah, they’re a pain in the ass. I’m glad you two were here this time though!” Makani said cheerfully. “Having an extra set of hands made a big difference! Usually we’d lose at least half a basket to those bastards. Thanks for that!”

Lykou chuckled and went back to reclining on the deck. “Hey, no problem. It’s the least we could do.”

“Not like I helped much anyway,” Kuna lamented, then sighed. “Sucks not having anything to grab with my magic out here. I’m right back to being useless when-”

“Hey!” Lykou chided. “Don’t start with that.”

The sereva smiled sheepishly at him. “Right, sorry.”

“Don’t-”

“And sorry for saying sorry,” Kuna added, rolling his eyes a bit, then smirked.

Hoku and Makani watched the exchange in mild amusement. “I take it that’s a whole… thing?”

“Yeah, but he’s a lot better than he was. He just has little moments now and then.”

“Old habits die hard,” the sereva said with a shrug. He then turned to look at the island again. “So uh… what part of the island is your village? I see a couple along the shore from here.”

Makani gestured towards one of the smaller collections of wooden structures not far from a large cliff on the left side of the island. “That one over there. We usually go ashore on that smooth section of beach a little to the right of it though.”

“Actually, given our, um… unique company, I thought we’d take the small beach on my end today.”

“Oh? Come on, everyone’s going to meet them eventually, might as well make a big entrance!”

“That is precisely what we don’t want to do if we don’t want red cloaks getting overly curious first thing in the morning,” Hoku pointed out, then turned back to their guests. “I live out on the outskirts, kind of on my own. There’s a small beach there we can use to go ashore. Should have less attention there. It’ll give Makani and I a chance to let people know about you before you show up. Kind of… ease them into it and all. We’ve been pretty isolated here for generations, so…”

“Yeah, I definitely understand,” Kuna said, nodding. “And I appreciate it. As it is, I’m fine with just trying to lay low, to be honest.”

“Well I for one would love to meet everyone,” Lykou said. “But I can understand wanting to do it carefully. I know we’re… really different looking compared to, uh… hey, what do you call your people anyway?”

“Oh, raptuva. And yeah, I didn’t want to be rude, but it really is pretty, um… strange seeing someone so… uh… fuzzy? No offense.”

Lykou chuckled. “Hey, none taken. It’s kind of a mutual feeling. I’ve never seen someone with skin like yours before, or feathers on anything but a bird.”

“Really? Huh… doesn’t that get… you know, uncomfortably warm?”

“Here? Somewhat, yeah, especially without the breeze. But it’s a lot colder where we’re from.”

“Yeah, we had to give each other a bit of a trim the other night because the last place was at least as hot, and muggy, but no breezes or anything. It was awful,” Kuna said, making a face. But then he smirked and shot a glance at the konuul. “Lykou in particular is usually a good bit fluffier. Great for cuddles, but not so great for trekking through air you have to almost drink.”

“Huh? What’s that mean?” Makani asked, bewildered at the statement.

“Er, right, I guess you… wouldn’t notice if you’ve always lived here.”

“The air is just… different here, is all. In addition to the heat,” Lykou chimed in. “In fact, most of the places we’ve been have been at least a little warmer than what we’re used to. Except Clovaria, which was pretty similar, except a lot less forest around.”

“Wow, cold dry air huh? Sounds weird,” Makani commented, while Hoku stared at the canid with a far-away, almost wistful look for a moment.

“It’s… good to know there’s really so much more world out there than just these islands,” Hoku finally said, though there was a hint of sadness in her voice. “Shame we can’t sail out there and visit it sometime.”

Lykou frowned and thought for a moment. “Er… you could follow us t- oh wait, no you wouldn’t be able to come back without magic. Er. Sorry.”

Surprisingly, Hoku seemed to consider it anyway. “Hmm…”

“Don’t even think about it, Hoku,” Makani chided. “I know you’re antsocial, but even you’d get homesick sooner or later.”

“Yeah, believe me, you never know how important home is until you’ve been stuck away from it for a while,” Lykou added with a pang of sadness, causing Kuna to shoot him a sympathetic look and desperately wish he could hop over and give him a big hug. Luckily, the konuul perked back up after a moment. “Don’t get me wrong though, seeing new and different places is definitely worth doing if you ever get the chance. Who knows? Maybe someone in your village will develop magical abilities.”

“Preferably without getting them from corrupted spirits,” Makani said with a mild grimace.

Hoku shot her a brief look, then rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”

Sensing an encroaching awkward silence, Lykou opted to change the subject. “So hey, I don’t mean to impose, but… any chance there’s a place we could sleep tonight in the village? It’s alright if not, but I’m sure he’d appreciate not having to magic up a plant-shelter for us tonight.”

“I-… wait what?” Hoku asked, quirking a brow. “Plant shelter?”

“Yeah, we can’t always count on finding a cave or something, and it’s better to have a secure shelter than sleeping in shifts, so I started using my magic to build places to sleep at night by manipulating plants.”

“It drains him a bit though, especially if he’s already tired out from traveling-”

“-or running from giant monstrosities, or bees, or bandits, or-”

“-or a whole bunch of other things, yeah,” Lykou finished, snickering. “Point is, any time he can take a break from it, it’s always nice.”

“Hey, with all that practice, it’s getting a lot less tiring though. I really don’t mind. Today’s been pretty easy going, overall- especially compared to our little run-in with the damn ursarans.”

“Well, either way, I’d love to offer you a place, but my shack is just barely big enough for myself, since I mostly just sleep there,” Hoku said. “You could try asking around the village, but I doubt you’ll find anyone with spare space.”

“Yyyeah, and I don’t think my sisters want a couple extra roommates, unfortunately,” Makani added with a sheepish grin. “They get frustrated just putting up with me sometimes.”

“Gee, imagine that,” Hoku said with a faint smirk.

“Hey!”

Hoku snickered a bit. “Relax, you know I’m just teasing.”

“Well that’s fine, if there’s a decent area out past your place, I’m sure we can make do,” Kuna said, then peered out past her at the island, which was getting close enough that he could make out individual raptuva walking around on the distant shore. “You said it’s not far from that cliffside over there, right? There any caves around there?”

“Nah, don’t think so. There’s some small holes in it, but nothing you can fit through.”

Hoku seemed about to speak up, but then bit her lip and seemed to think better of it. When she caught Kuna eyeing her, she just shook her head and looked away. “N-nope. Afraid not. I’d know, I certainly explored around there enough times, especially back when I was little. Nothing but solid rock.”

The sereva eyed her suspiciously for a moment, wondering what she might be hiding. But ultimately he decided not to pry. “Well… as long as there’s a decent area to set up camp in the forest, I can easily just do my usual thing, then.”

Hoku quickly turned back and gave him a worried look. “Er, remember what I said about the, um… magic.”

“Huh? What about it?” Lykou asked. “What were you two talking about over there earlier, anyway?”

“Oh yeah,” Kuna said, frowning, and turned to the konuul. “I’ll have to be careful about using my magic around the island. Apparently the red cloak people are suspicious about that kind of thing, to say the least.”

“Oh, jeeze… good to know.”

“Don’t worry though, we can make the shelter pretty un-noticeable. I’ll just set it up after sunset, out of sight,” the sereva said, turning back to Hoku. “And like I said, we’ll do it out past your place anyway, in the forest.”

“Just… be careful, then.”

“Yeah, and don’t worry about setting up a fire or anything- the village always sets up a big long one for everyone to use on the beach at the end of the day. Should be plenty of food to go around, too, with all the fish and stuff we catch.”

“Er, right, about that,” Lykou said, shooting a glance at his friend. “Kuna doesn’t eat fish. Or um. Any kind of meat, really.”

“Yyyeah, I’ll just stick to my own supplies, thanks,” Kuna said, his eye twitching slightly.

“Oh?” Hoku gave him a somewhat bemused look. “I was wondering why you were so skittish around the fish.”

“The dead fish, yeah,” Kuna said, avoiding meeting her gaze. “I mean, I’ve been traveling with Lykou over a month and a half now, so I guess it doesn’t phase me as much as it used to, and fish do seem kind of different, but…” He shivered slightly. “Still… freaks me out a little if I think about it too much, to be honest.”

“You really just eat… what, plant stuff?” Makani asked curiously. “Fruit and herbs and such?”

Kuna nodded. “Pretty much. Heck, I wasn’t even used to cooking things either, until Lykou introduced me to the concept. Though I’ve come to appreciate it.”

“Well hey, maybe you’ll like seaweed soup then,” Hoku suggested, perking up a little. “Someone usually makes a huge batch to start off several other soups, and there’s usually some left over at the end for anyone that wants it.”

Makani made a face. “Yeech. If you can stomach it without fish or oysters or something.”

“Oh hush. It’s delicious.”

“Soup, huh?” Lykou asked, perking up. “I’ve been kinda craving some kind of soup lately. Kuna and I were just talking about it last night.”

“Er, what’s ‘seaweed’ though?”

“Literally weeds that grow in the sea, duh,” Makani said.

Hoku rolled her eyes. “Technically yeah, but there’s a couple different kinds. Point is, they make a great base for soups.”

“Er, sorry to keep asking what are probably dumb questions, but what’s the sea?”

“Wha?? You’re kidding, right?”

“Oh, right, forgot. It’s just another word for the ocean,” Hoku said, then turned to Makani briefly. “They’re not familiar with the ocean. Apparently they live somewhere far away from it.”

“What’s the ocean?” Lykou asked.

“Apparently what we’re floating on. It’s not a lake,” Kuna said.

“Nope. Like I told Kuna, lakes are the bits of water trapped in land, but the ocean is the water that surrounds all the land.”

“...what, ALL of it?” Lykou asked incredulously. “Wait, how do you know that if you’ve not seen anywhere but your island?”

“I-” Hoku started, then paused. She grasped for an answer for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, according to the old lore anyway.”

“Uh-huh. Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical,” Lykou replied with a smirk. “Not saying you’re wrong, but my people have some beliefs that turned out to be wrong or at least misleading, and I only found out about them after traveling around with Kuna on this big journey. And the whole world being in the middle of a giant lake- or something- seems… kind of questionable, to say the least.”

“W-well… I-… I know this one’s true, okay! I just know it, I can’t explain it,” Hoku said defensively, then crossed her arms in a huff.

Makani leaned over and cupped her mouth. “Easy, she’s a bit sensitive about the old stories.”

“So I can see,” Lykou replied, then shot Hoku an apologetic smile. “Hey, it’s entirely possible you’re right, too. Didn’t mean to say it was impossible. I’ve just never heard of such a thing.”

“Then again, we’ve never seen a body of water this big before, and you’ve never encountered salty water before,” Kuna pointed out. “And I barely have. I dunno, for all we know all the land we know is a giant island floating in this stuff. And we just never went far enough to reach it.”

“Thank you,” Hoku said with a satisfied smirk, then turned to focus on adjusting the sail, taking them on a course towards the smaller, more isolated beach near her shack.

*****

As the boat approached the shore, Hoku was careful to keep some distance from any other boats in order to stall any unwanted attention. As they got in close, Lykou pointed off towards a patch of unoccupied coast, which seemed to be practically glowing with a red light as the sun was approaching the horizon.

“Woah, Ku, look that!”

“Wow… kind of pretty, but strange. What’s causing that?”

“Oh, that’s the Tears!” Makani helpfully answered.

“Tears?”

“Ugh. ‘Tears of Tuimana’, or so the red cloaks insist on calling them,” Hoku said.

“Yeah, they’re these stones that Tuimana supposedly shed as tears over the lost souls swayed by corrupt spirits. They’re really pretty and start glowing a bit when the sun starts going down.”

“Oh! Those!” Lykou said, then dug the stone Kuna found earlier out of his bag. It, too, had started glowing faintly- and felt a little warmer than before, as well. “So that’s what they are, huh? Ku and I saw some of them on the shore earlier. I think this one would make a good spear tip.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. As long as the red cloaks don’t stop you. Just don’t show them you have one and you should be fine, though.”

“Hopefully they’ll avoid those guys anyway,” Hoku said.

“Why would they care?”

“They’re spiritual relics, after all. And they believe they should have to approve of any way they’re used- which means they usually end up keeping anything made from them for themselves. Especially weapons.”

“Gee, that’s not suspicious at all,” Kuna snarked, arching a brow.

“Right??”

“I mean, you wouldn’t want them falling into the hands of an actual corrupt-spirit servant, would you?” Makani pointed out. “I know, I know, they may be exaggerated and blah blah, whatever, but still. I’m sure there’s still some out there.”

“I guess…”

“Screw that, let everyone have ‘em and work together when they’re found,” Lykou commented. “I don’t see why one group has to deal with those kinds of issues all on their own. If there’s a threat to the tribe, everyone should work together against it, not just leave it to some self-proclaimed experts on it.”

“Hey, we’re talking about spiritual threats here, not mundane ones!” Makani insisted. “Most people aren’t equipped for that.”

“Maybe they should be. If spirits are at all common here, let alone corrupted ones, people should know more about them, and how to deal with them if they have to.”

“To be fair, most regular spirits do tend to just kind of ignore people and do their thing in isolation,” Kuna reminded them. He then smirked at Lykou. “Besides, as I recall, someone was Lakefire’s own designated spirit specialist.”

“I-… er….” Lykou grinned sheepishly after a moment and shrugged. “Okay, fair point. But I was mostly just meant to handle smaller ones, and not so much full-on demons. If there was ever anything big and threatening the whole village, we’re supposed to work together, you know. Spirit or otherwise.”

“Guess I should feel lucky I didn’t have an entire village chasing me through the woods,” the sereva teased, crossing his arms.

The canid snickered. “Doubt we’d all fit in that cave together, that’s for sure.”

“Wait, you were chasing him?”

Kuna gave Lykou a look. “What, you even glossed over that bit, too?” He smirked. “What, too embarrassed to admit why we even met in the first place?”

“Well I don’t see any reason to embarrass either of us! After all, you thought I was going to eat you.”

“Okay, you’ve GOT to tell us now,” Makani insisted.

“He thought I was a spirit. Specifically, a kind his peoples’ legends think lead anyone that can keep up with it to enlightenment and riches or something.”

“And his people are such isolationists that he thought I was hunting him.”

“To be fair, that’s hardly the only reason…”

Lykou frowned. “Right. True. Guess you had extra reasons to be paranoid… sorry Ku.”

“Hey, it’s fine. Might have been an awkward start, but the important thing is we met and got to know each other,” Kuna assured him with a smile.

“I mean, you were attacked by a demon as a kid, I’d say that’d make anyone paranoid,” Makani said. “You’re lucky you even survived.”

“Technically a demon-possessed ursaran, but yeah.”

“What’s an ursaran anyway? Some kind of wild animal?”

“N-”

“Yeah pretty much,” Kuna snarked glibly.

Lykou smirked and rolled his eyes. “No, they’re people.”

“Only technically.”

“Anyway, they’re… not exactly pleasant even when they’re not possessed by demons. They’re huge, mean, and prone to conquest and slavery. They believe in this big hierarchy thing that they think the whole world should operate by, which just so happens to put ursarans above every other kind of people.”

“Eesh. Sounds like a nasty bunch. Glad there’s none around here,” Hoku said, then grunted slightly as she adjusted the sail, then picked up an oar again. “Hey Kani, mind guiding us in? The wind should carry us most of the way in from this direction.”

“Sure thing!” Makani said, then promptly grabbed a tether and hopped overboard, barely making a splash as she slid into the water.

“Er, guiding?” Kuna asked curiously.

“Anything I can do to help?” Lykou volunteered.

“Nah, she’s got it. Just need help getting past the reef. This boat’s small enough it probably could make it over most of it, but it’s still better the be careful.” While she explained, Hoku watched her boat partner down in the water, adjusting the sail to match whatever direction she went underwater.

“Reef?”

“Yeah. It’s this collection of various… stuff that can really scratch up and in some cases even sink a boat if enough of it sits below the surface. A lot of fish seem to love it, too, but they’re usually too small to be worth catching.”

Kuna arched a brow. “Is it… alive? I thought I felt something down there that was alive but motionless, but totally different to trees.”

“Maybe? Never really thought about it, honestly. I guess they could be some kind of really stiff plant or something. Just try to avoid brushing up against it, because some of it gets pretty sharp around the edges.”

“Good to know in case I decide to go for a swim,” Lykou said, then shifted over to watch Makani under the water. “Dang, she can really hold her breath down there.”

Hoku glanced up at him briefly, then shrugged. “Not as long as me. Guess you get used to having strong lungs when you spend so much time doing this kind of stuff. Sometimes we swap roles.”

Eventually, the other raptuva surfaced again and spit out some water. “Okay, we’re clear!”

“Alright, I’ll come help you push us in in a moment,” Hoku replied, starting to take down the mast and fold up the sail.

Lykou hopped up. “Right, let me come help you,” he said before jumping back into the water.

Kuna sighed. “So much for all that time he spent drying off,” he said with a smirk.

Hoku chuckled. “Hey, there’ll be plenty of chance to dry off around the fire at dinner.”

“Yeah but he’ll need to clean off somewhere before that. Heck, I will and I’ve barely been in that water. I love salt, but I’m sure it gets irritating being covered in it after a bit.”

Hoku shrugged. “Fair point. I guess it probably would get stuck in your, um... fur pretty bad. The village gets its fresh water from a creek nearby, and there’s actually some falls over by the cliffs, too.”

“Good to know, thanks.”

*****

When the boat reached the shore, Kuna hopped off and set his and Lykou’s stuff away from the water while Lykou helped push the boat onto the sand. The sereva wanted to help, but without risking using his magic, he knew he wouldn’t have much to offer. And in any case, they had it up pretty quickly on their own.

“Right, Kani and I will take a couple baskets of fish over and let people know we have guests-”

“Oh, oh, let me tell them, let me!”

“-and try and ease them into things,” Hoku continued, giving the other raptuva a pointed look as she picked up a basket of fish.

“While you’re doing that, we should go get cleaned up” Lykou said after shaking some water off. “It feels weird to say, but after swimming around out there, I really feel like I need a bath. Salt water’s weird…”

“Hey, it’s good for your sca-… err, right,” Makani said, grinning sheepishly. “Guess maybe not so much for you fuzzy guys.”

“Cleaning up sounds good,” Kuna said, then turned to Hoku. “You said there’s some falls back by the cliff, right?”

“Mhmm. Probably all to yourselves, too, since most people don’t bother walking out that far. And there should be a decent spot between here and there for you two to set up your, er… shelter, whenever you’re ready.”

“Good to know. As it is, it’ll take us a while to get cleaned up and dry off though,” Kuna said, then smirked and glanced at Lykou. “Especially fluffbutt over here.”

“Hey, I’m… less fluffy now!”

“Still the fluffiest one here.”

They both stuck their tongues out at each other playfully.

“Too freaking cute,” Makani half-whispered to Hoku, who rolled her eyes and smirked in response.

“Come on, let’s get the fish back to the village,” Hoku said, than turned back to the boys. “You two can leave your bags and stuff in my shack while you’re getting cleaned up if you want. It’s right around the corner here, can’t miss it. Only one for about fifteen minutes’ walk at least.”

“Still don’t know why you insist on living so isolated, Hoku.”

“Hey, I like my space, what can I say? It’s peaceful. I spend most of the day out on the water anyway. Or in it.”

“Tell me about it, I swear you’re part fish.”

The two continued bantering as they walked off with a couple baskets of fish. Lykou and Kuna found her shack and stored their bags inside. Lykou was surprised how small it was- most of it was taken up by the simple bed she apparently slept in. “Wow, she wasn’t kidding.”

“Eh, it’s not so bad. My old tent was about this size, honestly.”

Lykou frowned a bit. “They couldn’t even leave you a decent sized one, huh? You not spend much time in it either?”

“Actually, I spent most of my time in it, when I wasn’t out gathering. Before… well, you know.”

The konuul pulled the sereva into a hug. “First thing we’re doing when we get back to Lakefire, is making you a proper living space. With a comfy bed and everything.”

Kuna hugged him back and folded his ears back. The gesture was nice, but he felt a brief, somewhat unexpected pang of sadness at the idea he’d eventually be sleeping alone again. “What about you? What’s your place like?”

“I… uhhh,” Lykou stalled, grinning awkwardly and rubbing his neck as they turned to head for the falls. “Actually, I still stay in my family’s longhouse. They don’t mind, but I’ve been meaning to work on making a small one for myself. Hard to do as a spirit-chaser though. Naira, Oren, and I talked about working together for a house we can share, but Oren’s not really interested right now, and… some people talk about Naira and I as it is.”

“Oh? How so?”

“I mean, what with how close we are. And parents being parents, they want grandpups. And the fact that Naira and I are both not interested, and we’re not, you know, mates, doesn’t seem to register with them.”

“Really? Are parents… usually like that?”

“When you get past a certain age, yeah, it’s not uncommon. And don’t get me wrong, some get a lot pushier, which is kind of messed up. Mine just like to playfully wheedle at me about it. And the fact that my best friend is a girl means they like to sometimes jump to conclusions.”

“Do they not know you… you know, also like guys?”

“I mean they do, but that doesn’t tend to lend itself towards having kids, you know?”

“Still, you’d think they’d take the hint…”

“Yeah, well, like I said, parents will be parents. And I think the tribe in general hoped settling down would convince me to switch to a more… well, useful job than a glorified scout looking for spirits.”

“Well they might change their mind when they see you again,” Kuna pointed out with a smirk. “I may not be an ‘Aliki-ka’, but we’ve both definitely had plenty of ‘enlightenment’ on this trip, and we got a few cool trinkets to take back with us.”

Lykou chuckled. “Or they might get even more determined to tie me down, after I’ve been missing for a month and a half.” He frowned for a moment. “And… hopefully not too much longer.”

Kuna frowned and hugged him, which he returned, smiling again. “Hey… I um. I just had a thought.”

“Oh?”

The sereva fiddled with the edge of his poncho for a minute and bit his lip. “...what if I worked on a house with you? A-and Naira, too, I mean, if she’s still interested. Then they might stop getting ideas, and you could have more space.” And maybe we could still share a bed, he mentally added.

Lykou paused and seemed to think about it, then beamed at the sereva. “Duh! Why didn’t I think of that? That’s a great idea!”

Kuna beamed back, bouncing a little on the spot. “I can probably even use my magic to help. Would be a lot fancier than the little rinky-dink things I’ve been making on the trip so far though, with you two’s help and plenty of time to work on it.”

“Oh definitely! We’ll have the coolest house in the village!” Lykou said, then smirked. “You’re not doing all the work though, got it?”

Kuna giggled. “Of course.”