Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 5: The Cult of the Crimson Isles

Chapter 19

Cute durr time? Cute durr time.

-Llox

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“It feels kind of… wrong, just leaving him there like that,” Hoku said, glancing over her shoulder briefly as the group hiked away from her cousin and the rest of his bound-up patrol group.

“Yeah, but you heard him,” Kalei responded. “It gives us a head start, and him plausible deniability. I’m sure he’ll be fine once he gets plenty of food and water in his belly, and maybe rests up for a while. The important thing is for us to put a lot of distance between them and us.”

“We should probably change course a bit for whenever they do start following us, actually,” Lykou added, searching the forest ahead of them for areas of thicker brush that they could pass through.

Kalei shrugged. “Sure, but I doubt they’ll come right after us even when they are free. More than likely, they’ll hurry off to the nearest village to report their encounter with us and resupply. And take Anaru to get checked over.”

“Yeah and we already kicked their butt once,” Kani said, grinning. “They know better than to come chasing us with the same group again.”

“We kind of got lucky that we were able to set up an ambush before they got close,” Lykou pointed out. “But yeah, point taken. Still, doesn’t hurt to play it safe.”

“I just hope we can find a cave to hide out in,” Kuna said, grunting with the effort of climbing up a slightly steeper section of incline. Fortunately, Lykou gave him a hand up when he started to waver again. “I definitely won’t have the energy for helping with a shelter tonight.”

Hoku glanced around at a few of the mostly-hidden streams she could sense. “Yeah… I imagine there should be one around here somewhere. With all these big sections of solid rock around, we can probably find one by following one of the streams.”

“Not a bad idea,” Lykou agreed. “Lead the way, then.”

“Sunny, would you mind scouting around and keeping an eye out for one too?” Kuna asked their avian companion.

The kikomanu clicked and whistled in response, then flew up above the canopy. The group continued hiking through the day, changing their course on several occasions specifically to throw any potential pursuers off their tracks. It eventually led them around to a steeper side of the mountain. It made their climb that much more difficult- and occasionally dangerous- but it also meant they were even farther from any villages, and less likely to be found. Using Hoku’s magic to guide them, they found a few small caves, but they weren’t nearly big enough to shelter in. Finally, Sunshine swooped down as the groups’ energy level was really starting to flag again, and let them know he’d found a good one.

They followed the kikomanu up the mountainside until they came upon a high, sheer cliff with a decent-sized cave entrance at its base. And sure enough, a small stream was trickling out through the middle of it. The group all shared a sigh of relief as they arrived at the cave. Lykou helped Kuna inside, where the sereva unceremoniously flopped down on one side and slumped back. He’d had to get steadily more help to keep going for the past hour, so he was immensely relieved to be off his feet. Hoku brought him some fruit and sat next to him as she dug into some fish. The others began setting up their sleeping mats and getting out food and water for themselves as well.

Lykou brought some fruit and seeds over to where Sunshine had perched at the edge of the cave, then gently stroked his head as he began gobbling the seeds up. “Thanks for all the help, Sunny. Really appreciate it.”

The bird paused to whistle pleasantly back at him. “Happy to help friends.”

Lykou smiled, then grabbed himself some food before plopping down on Kuna’s other side. “You doing alright Ku?”

“Mm… good ‘s can be expected,” he commented, his eyes a bit glassy. He let out an enormous yawn after finishing the first fruit he’d been given. The sun was only just starting to touch the horizon, but he was clearly ready for an early night. “Probably gonna sleep soon.”

“Hey, by all means. You’ve got the most to recover from, after all,” Hoku said, gently rubbing his shoulder. “Thanks again, by the way.”

Kuna smiled faintly and shrugged a little, then sipped some water that’d been poured into an empty coconut half for him. “No problem. Happy to-” he replied, then got interrupted by another yawn. “-help. Oof.”

Lykou grinned and gently pulled him over a bit closer, letting him rest his head on his chest. “Feel free to doze off, Ku. I’ll bring you to the mat after I eat.”

The sereva beamed up at him tiredly. “Sounds good t’me.”

The group sat and enjoyed their dinner mostly in silence, happy to bask in the respite from the arduous day of hiking and earlier conflict. It wasn’t long before the sereva began dozing off on Lykou’s chest, with the canid’s arm wrapped around him. As soon as Lykou finished eating, he gently pulled the sereva into his lap and cuddled him while the others finished their own meals.

“Want me to bring your mat over?” Kalei offered. “That way you don’t have to get up.”

Lykou glanced down at Kuna, then smiled back at the raptuva. “Sure, if you don’t mind. After you finish eating though. I’m not quite ready for sleep yet, but the less I have to jostle Ku around when I eventually am, the better.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

“He sure does look content,” Hoku commented, smiling down at the sereva.

“Well yeah, he’s got the fluffiest, softest bed he could ever want right now,” Kani chimed in, albeit in a thankfully softer tone than usual. “All cuddled up like that. Cute as fuck, too.”

“She has a point,” Kalei agreed.

Hoku glanced between Lykou and Kuna, then smirked. “Yeah, can’t argue there.”

Lykou chuckled softly. “He does have a knack for looking adorable.”

“You both are. As a pair,” Kani let slip, then stuck her tongue out at Hoku briefly, satisfied at having gotten the words out before she could stop her.

The konuul blushed and grinned. “It’s his fault. He just rubs off on ya when you hold him like this.”

“Bet you’d look just as cute holding me,” Kani teased, grinning at him.

Lykou just rolled his eyes a little and shook his head in amusement. Then he suddenly noticed the sereva blushing slightly as well and squinted at him. “Wait a minute… Ku, are you really asleep?” Everyone sat in silence for a moment, waiting to see if the sereva would stir. Lykou tried prodding him gently, but there was no particular response. “Hmm… guess not.”

“Maybe he’s just dreaming about something embarrassing? Or really nice,” Kani suggested, then grinned impishly. “Or some_one_, even.”

“Give it a rest, Kani,” Hoku chided lightly. She then shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around herself. “You did have a good point about the comfy thing too, though. Think we could risk setting up a fire tonight? Not really any villages on this side of the mountain.”

“I guess if we made a small one near the entrance, the smoke wouldn’t be visible by the time it gets up above the trees,” Kalei suggested as he got up and brought Lykou and Kuna’s mat over next to them. “I’ll go grab some wood before the sun’s completely gone, if everyone’s agreed?”

“I’ll come help,” Kani volunteered, getting up before anyone could raise any more objections. “Fire sounds good.”

“Alright, I guess as long as it’s not too big… make sure to bring Kuna’s hatchet,” Lykou said. “I’d help too, but, well…”

“Nah, you’ve got an important job right now as it is,” Kalei said with a smirk, then grabbed up the hatchet in question before heading out with Kani to grab some wood.

Hoku glanced around, then grabbed her blanket out of the nearby basket.

“You’re a bit sensitive to the cold, aren’t you?” Lykou asked quietly.

“Well… not usually, but I guess its different up on the mountain. Cold water is one thing, cold air is another, strange as that sounds,” Hoku replied. “I’ll be alright though, especially once the fire is going.”

“Heh, feels pretty nice to me,” Lykou said. After a few minutes of silence, he noted how tightly she’d wrapped the blanket around herself, so he patted the empty space next to him and Kuna. “Feel free to huddle over here if you want. Ku and I can block the breeze a bit for you.”

The raptuva gave him a slightly surprised look, and even blushed ever so slightly. After a moment, she smiled shyly and slid over next to the two. “Alright then,” she said, getting slightly flustered when he wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

He took note of her demeanor shift and his smile faded for a moment. “Er. You alright? This isn’t making you uncomfortable, is it?”

“I’d have said something if it was,” she responded with a small grin. “You cuddle all your friends?”

“Any that’ll let me. Why?”

“Just… not used to it I guess,” the raptuva said, then leaned against him slightly, glancing down at the sereva fast asleep on his chest. “I guess it has its practical benefits, doesn’t it? Especially with it being so cold where you’re from, and all.”

“Sure. Plus it’s just nice in general.”

“...yeah. I can see that.” Hoku paused and thought for a moment. She didn’t want to be a hypocrite after chastising Kani for getting too nosy, but her curiosity was starting to get the better of her. “I… figured you and Kuna just cuddled because you were, um…” she started, then gave up on the thought partway through. “Extra close, I guess.”

He arched a brow slightly, then looked down at the sereva snuggled up against him. “Well… yeah, I guess we are,” he said after a moment, smiling. “We’ve been through a lot together since we first met. And he’s a pretty special guy. Guess we’re pretty much best friends now.” He smiled back at her. “But I feel like all friends should be able to cuddle.”

Again, Hoku found herself wrestling with whether or not to probe further. In any case, she didn’t get the chance, as Kalei and Makani returned with a couple small arm-loads full of wood and dried grass. The latter narrowed her eyes and grinned faintly, shooting Hoku a look.

“Well don’t you three look… cozy.”

“She was getting a bit chilly,” Lykou said, as if that was all the explanation needed. Meanwhile, Hoku bit her lip and avoided meeting her gaze.

“I’ll keep that in mind in case I need a warm up!”

“By all means, the more the merrier,” Lykou replied cheerfully. “You too, Kalei.”

Kani’s playful expression faltered for a moment, then intensified. She hadn’t quite expected that response. Kalei eyed them curiously for a moment, but shrugged it off as he went to work setting up a small fire near the cave’s mouth. “Thanks, but pass for now.”

“Sure. And thanks again for getting that set up.’

“Hey, no problem. I’ll be glad for a bit of extra warmth tonight. We should probably sleep in shifts, though, just to be on the safe side.”

“Aw frick, you really think we need to?” Kani asked, grumbling a bit.

“Yeah, even as secluded as this is, they could still end up searching around this way,” Kalei replied. “It’s unlikely, but not impossible.”

“That’s a good point,” Lykou commented, frowning a bit. “With Ku asleep, it’d be a lot harder to cover up the cave entrance…”

“Well, he’s done enough that I think he deserves to sleep the full night. Between the four of us-”

“Squaawk! Five!”

“-sorry, five of us,” Kalei continued, smirking at Sunshine. “Each watch shouldn’t take too long anyway.”

Kani pouted for a moment, then shrugged and lounged on her mat. “I guess I could take first watch, then. Not sleepy anyway. Tired, but not sleepy.”

“To be fair, I think that describes most of us at this point,” Hoku pointed out. “Stars are just now starting to show up.”

“It’s probably easiest to just go in order of when people get tired. Last one awake takes first watch, and so on,” Lykou suggested.

“Makes sense to me,” Kalei agreed.

Kuna suddenly rolled over in Lykou’s lap, putting his face right in line with the canid’s tail, which had been partially laid across him beforehand. His nose twitched a bit, then he suddenly reached out and pulled the tail into a cuddle.

Makani immediately let out a faint squeal. It took all her effort to keep her voice down. “Awwww! Look at that!”

Lykou arched a brow, then smirked. “...you’re actually still awake, aren’t you, Ku?”

“Mmno,” Kuna mumbled with a faint smirk of his own. “M’sleep.”

Kalei snickered and Hoku grinned. “Have you been awake this whole time?”

Kuna turned back towards her and peeked open an eye slightly, giggling faintly. “Mm-mm. Kinda… in n’ out,” he responded sleepily, rubbing his eye, then yawned. “You guys… talkin’ ‘bout watches? I could just-”

“Uh-uh,” Hoku responded, booping his nose lightly. “You’ve done enough for one day, mister life-saver.”

“Yeah, you just stay there and keep being adorable!” Kani insisted.

“It’s fine, Ku,” Lykou assured him, giving him a gentle squeeze. “You need to rest up.” He grinned and gave him slight tickle, making the sereva giggle and squirm weakly. “And like Kani said, keep on being adorable.”

“Mmmnot.”

“You know you are. In fact, if I don’t know any better, I’d say you’ve finally embraced it.”

“Not that we mind!” Kani added enthusiastically.

Kuna blushed brightly and grinned, peeking around through barely open eyes, then buried his head in Lykou’s chest and fake-snored. Perhaps it was the delirium of sleepiness, or perhaps it was a need to lighten the mood, given the frightening challenge they were soon going to face- possibly both- but he found himself enjoying the attention for once. And just maybe, deep down, he was starting to like the idea of leaning into the whole ‘cute’ thing a little bit.

“Not only that, I think he’s milking it,” Kani accused playfully.

Lykou gave the sereva another small squeeze. “Oh, definitely.”

The sereva poked his tongue out playfully and blushed even more, giggling faintly. He then grabbed Lykou’s tail again and took a deep breath. “...’mma sleep now. ‘night.”

“Goodnight, you adorable goofball,” Lykou said, holding him tightly.

*****

Kuna found himself wandering through a dark and mysterious forest, not remembering how he got there. He wasn’t even aware of how long he’d been walking. He just had a vague, unsettling feeling that he was supposed to be getting away. From what, he wasn’t sure. All he could feel was a constant feeling of being watched, but he couldn’t tell from where. Buried at the back of his mind, faint memories of screams, fear, and sorrow danced at the edge of his consciousness, without context or meaning.

The moon was high in the sky, casting everything in a pale glow. Luckily, the trees were spaced far enough apart that he could at least see his way around. And fortunately, there was little brush in the forest, but that just meant that it was all the more noticeable when he started coming across splotches of various shades of red on the ground. He didn’t want to think about what the substance was, but deep down, he knew. Some had clearly been there a while, but there was a lot that was still quite fresh and wet. And the further he went- even if he changed direction or went back the way he came- the more frequent he encountered them.

He froze when he heard the faint snap of something stepping on a twig somewhere behind him- which was strange, because there weren’t even that many twigs around that he’d seen. He quickly glanced back over his shoulder, but as always, he couldn’t see anything. There was no movement out in the shadows of the woods. Just ominous silence and threatening stillness. He turned back and continued pressing onward, though he couldn’t conceive of a destination. The only place he could think to go was ‘not here’.

After a while, he became aware of someone- or something- following him. He could hear their breathing, distant at first but slowly getting closer. And yet he could never catch sight of who or what it was. Panicked, he started to increase his pace. From the sounds he was hearing, his invisible pursuer was speeding up as well, and gaining on him. He eventually broke into an all-out run as the vague memories started to drift into more clarity in his mind, tears stinging at the corners of his eyes.

Death. Horrible, violent death. Loss. He’d lost someone. His parents- torn to shreds before his very eyes. And the monster… standing there, just out of reach but menacing nonetheless. Still dripping with their blood, and… laughing. Mocking him and his misery.

As he ran, the large splashes of blood were soon joined by even more disturbing viscera and bones. Eventually, he saw freshly killed bodies. First wild animals, then people. Initially, none looked familiar- many weren’t even species he recognized, for some reason. But the further he went, the more vaguely familiar they became. People he’d seen in passing, members of his tribe he’d had little interaction with, and so on. But they gradually became more and more familiar.

He stopped in his tracks when he recognized two of them. The approaching breathing halted as well, as if the monster had decided to stop and relish Kuna’s torment. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks as his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to look away, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. His feet slowly carried him closer, until he was looking down at the maimed corpses of his parents. Though he was an adult, he suddenly felt like a helpless child all over again as he sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

After a few minutes, the snap of a larger branch dragged him back to the current moment, and he looked up. Again, every direction he looked yielded no source for the sound. But once again, he felt like an ominous presence was after him. He quickly got back to his feet and started moving again, his eyes darting around fearfully, knowing he wasn’t alone.

Suddenly, he jerked away from a puddle of blood when some kind of dark, twisted tendril poked out of it and reached for him. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he started seeing them in a number of the bloody splotches. He broke into a run again, narrowly avoiding more grasping tendrils that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. A few close calls made him realize they were vines and roots, albeit sickly looking and covered in thorns dripping with steamy, foul-smelling fluids.

The sounds of screaming and death began to fill the forest. But above it all, laughter. Twisted, sadistic laughter. At first it sounded like the distorted voice of the ravager he vaguely recalled from his youth, but then it transformed into that of a gnarled old figure he’d encountered much more recently. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a blur of motion somewhere up ahead.

And sure enough, when he finally caught sight of his pursuer, more memories came flooding back and he recognized the distorted face of Kairangi, blended with his demonic partner. A gnarled, wiry raptuvan-like monster, bulging with unnatural muscle, wreathed in flames and sporting horns that jutted from his head and other areas of his body. More dead bodies lay around him as he stalked towards the helpless sereva.

Kuna tried conjuring up his magic to protect himself, just now remembering that he could do such a thing. But for some reason, nothing came of it. It was as if the life energy had been sucked out of everything around him. He backed away as the monster stalked closer, then turned and began running again.

Despite running as fast as he could, and despite Kai-mana’s slow plodding, the demonic aberration was gradually gaining on him. It was as if the world itself was working against him. Suddenly, he found himself running up to a tall cliffside. He turned to run to the side, but realized he was surrounded on three sides by the sheer, vertical rock. He whimpered and huddled into a ball, expecting his demise any moment.

But a lout grunt and some shouting interrupted the heavy breathing and laughter he’d gotten used to. He hazarded a look, and was stunned to see Kai-mana was now wrestling with another entity. It was a massive blur of shadow and dark red angles that didn’t seem to want to focus into a definite, static shape. After a moment, it hauled back and slammed a blurry, massive fist into Kai-mana’s torso, sending him flying backwards a moderate distance.

Kuna’s initial response was to think maybe he’d been rescued, but that thought faded when the new entity turned to face him. Two dark, hole-like voids occupied the space where he expected to see eyes. And when they looked at him, he immediately felt a whole new malevolence baring down on him. It was at that moment he realized he was being fought over- they both wanted to do terrible things to him. But as it stalked towards him, a cluster of bloody vines burst up from the ground and ensnared it.

While the two evil beings continued to fight over him, he got up and fled past them. A dangerously close swipe from the blurry being sent a chill down his spine. Again, the more he ran, the more he started to recognize certain bodies laying lifeless on the ground. Shiko and Tashira looked like they’d put up a fight, only to be left impaled on rigid vines, reaching out for one another. Faergus laid bisected in a pool of blood, with Moyra hanging by the neck from an unnatural looking vine dangling from a tree branch. More of the lepne they’d met were brutally murdered around them. Further along, Hoku laid lifeless in one of the first streams he’d seen in this hellish forest, her blood turning the water red. Kani and Kalei were discarded in a horribly mangled heap nearby.

Suddenly, he spotted someone still alive up ahead, looking around frantically. When he got closer, he recognized them and redoubled his speed with the first glimmer of hope he’d felt through the whole ordeal. “LYKOU!”

The konuul spun around to look at him. Initially, he looked relieved and started running up to meet him. “KUNA! I’m so glad you’re-” he started, but then slowed to a stop, his expression changing to one of horror. He turned as if to flee, only for a large, blurry mass to fly over Kuna’s head and land on him, crushing him and making Kuna stop dead in his tracks in shock. When the blurry mass slowly got to its feet, apparently having been thrown, it grunted and looked down at the bloody mess beneath it. Kuna stood in horror, fresh tears filling his eyes.

The blur began to chuckle as it finally materialized into the horrific monster he’d suspected it was- the ravager. Its laughter was soon joined by Kai-mana’s, right behind him and getting closer. The ravager began to close in on him again as well. Kuna sank to his knees and clutched his head, unable to withstand the horrible feelings washing over him as dark vines began to twist up around him and siphon the energy out of him. The sounds and sights of death all around repeated in his mind endlessly, and he screamed wordlessly in helpless despair. Finally, mercifully, everything went dark.

*****

“Shhh, it’s alright Ku, it’s just a dream... You’re safe,” Lykou’s voice gently cooed. He was holding a very distraught and not-entirely conscious sereva in his arms.

Finally, Kuna snapped out of it and his whimpering faded as he opened his teary eyes. His panicked breathing calmed a bit as he weakly rubbed his eyes. When his vision cleared, he saw not only Lykou holding him, but their raptuvan friends all gathered around and looking worried as well. Even Sunshine was perched on Kani’s head, eyeing him with concern. He sniffled and folded his ears down, blushing a bit as he wiped away his tears.

Lykou finally smiled sympathetically and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Hey. It’s alright. We’re all here. You’re safe and sound,” he softly assured the sereva.

Kuna sniffed some more, glancing around at the others with a certain degree of embarrassment. “Eheh… s-sorry,” he apologized softly. “Fucking -hic- night terrors are the worst. Sorry if I -hic- woke you guys.”

“Fuck that. You’ve got nothing to apologize for, mister,” Kani playfully chided, then reached over and gently rubbed his head. “Even if you did, it’s not like you could help it.”

“Luckily it’s morning anyway, and we were already awake,” Hoku explained, gently placing a hand in his arm. “We figured you needed extra rest. Until you starting crying and whimpering, anyway. You need some water?”

Kuna started to shake his head slightly, then hiccuped again. He frowned and sighed. “...actually yeah, that might not be a -hic- bad idea. Thanks…”

“I’m just glad you’re awake now. From the sound of it, this might’ve been the worst yet,” Lykou said, continuing to cradle him in his arms.

“Definitely must’ve been intense,” Kalei agreed. “I’m so sorry you’ve got to deal with that, Kuna.”

“Bad dream fuck off! Squaaawk,” Sunshine chimed in helpfully.

The sereva nodded slightly, and smiled faintly at the bird’s comment. He thanked Hoku when she brought him a coconut-cup full of water. He took a big sip, then wiped his mouth. “It… was different this time. Probably because of the circumstances.”

“Oh? Like how?” Lykou asked worriedly.

Kuna shivered. “Bad enough dealing with one -hic- nightmare-demon, this one had two. You can guess who the other one -hic- was.”

“Damn, Ku… I’m so sorry,” Lykou said, holding him tightly. “That’s awful.” He scowled briefly. “All the more reason we need to kill that bastard.”

“Yeah… it was a different dream entirely, too. So much -hic- death…” Kuna shivered again, then took another big sip of water. “Just about everyone I knew, including you guys… it was awful…”

“Well thank fuck it was just a dream,” Kani said, then rummaged around in one of the baskets before producing the pineapple that’d been tucked away. “I think this warrants a tasty treat. You just hang tight and I’ll slice this bad boy up for you, mmkay?”

Kuna smiled a bit at her, then sniffed. “Thanks Kani. That actually does sound pretty good right now…”

“I wonder if Tuimana actually has anything to do with it besides just being on your mind,” Kalei pondered out loud. “Zyn said he could… ‘interact’ with that tooth thing. Maybe he somehow spurred the nightmare since they’re having trouble finding us, just to mess with you?”

“Uh, maybe not the best way to comfort him, Kalei,” Hoku warned.

“Shit! Fuck, sorry Kuna, wasn’t thinking!” Kalei said, smacking his forehead. “I… really need to think before I talk sometimes. Sorrysorry…”

Kuna sipped some more water and thought for a moment. “Honestly, you might be right though. Wouldn’t surprise me if he had some kind of ability like that,” he said, then grumbled. “The sooner we defeat those assholes, the better.”

“Agreed,” Lykou said, then rested his head on Kuna’s. “Evil bastard. As if all the murder and lies weren’t bad enough.”

“Weird thing is he and -hic- the ravager were actually fighting each other in the dream,” Kuna commented, mulling it over. “Admittedly over who would, uh… ‘get’ me.”

“Really? That’s strange,” Hoku commented, arching a brow. “Wonder why?”

“Well, demons are kind of territorial, right?” Lykou pointed out. “They’re all about hoarding power and whatnot. Makes sense they wouldn’t want to share anything, including victims.”

“Yeah, but why would that -hic- come up in a dream?” Kuna wondered aloud. “I mean I suppose that makes sense, but it’s not something I’d have really thought about, normally.”

“That’s… a good question.”

The sereva frowned and stared down into his cup thoughtfully. “Maybe he really did prod me with some kind of weird demonic -hic- magic. Maybe… maybe that was just a result of his magic and the tooth interacting.”

“Could be,” Hoku said, then rubbed the sereva’s arm softly. “You be extra careful when we get up there, alright? Don’t let Kairangi get too close to you.”

“I’ll second that,” Lykou agreed.

“I mean, I’m going to have to -hic- get at least a little close for the plan to work,” Kuna pointed out. “But don’t worry, believe me, I’ll be -hic- very careful. I have no desire to test out what else they might be able to do with that -hic- thing.”

“Just don’t forget I’m here too,” Hoku reminded him with a faint smile. “You’re not the only one that can trigger those marks now.”

Kuna smiled back at her. “I know.”

“Here ya go, Kuna- one nightmare-murdering breakfast for the specialest sereva I know!” Kani said, bringing him a bowl full of sliced up pineapple rings.

“Isn’t he the only one you know?” Kalei teased.

“Shush!”

Kuna giggled a bit and gratefully took the bowl, setting his cup aside in the process. Luckily, his hiccups were starting to pass. “Thanks, Kani. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem!” the bubbly raptuva replied. “I’m glad Hoku thought to grab that on the way out of the village. Definitely a smart move.”

“Well then thank you too, Hoku,” Kuna added, before popping some of the juicy fruit into his mouth and savoring it.

“Hey, no problem. I remember how much you enjoyed it,” Hoku replied with a smile. “Never know when you might need a bit of comfort food, you know?”

After eating a few more bites, Kuna looked around at the others. “Did you guys already eat breakfast?”

“The three of us did,” Kalei replied. “Lykou waited for you, as usual,” he added with a faint smirk.

Kuna turned back to the konuul holding him and smirked. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“Hey, I don’t mind waiting. Not like I’m in a hurry to get up anyway.”

“You’re a softy both inside and out, Lykou,” Kalei commented, smirking, then passed him some salted, cooked fish. “But you’re both awake now, so here.”

Lykou smiled and took the fish. “Thanks, hehe.” He looked down at the sereva in his arms and then at the fish. “Er, you mind if I-”

Kuna smirked and reluctantly shuffled over out of the canid’s lap so he could eat without doing it right over him. “Dig in, fluffybutt.”

“You doing alright now, I take it?” Hoku asked the sereva.

“Yeah. Waking up helps,” Kuna replied, then smiled around at everyone. “Especially when I’m surrounded by a bunch of sweethearts. Thanks, guys,” he added. Then, after a minute, some faint memories of the night before trickled back, and he looked back over at the konuul at his side and playfully nudged his head against his shoulder. “Also helps waking up in the comfiest bed in the world.”

Kani grinned and let out a slight squeal of delight, then giggled a bit. “You remember that, huh? Just how much of that conversation were you really awake for last night?”

“Hey yeah, on a lighter note, what was that about last night, hmm?” Lykou asked, grinning. “Finally decide to embrace it?”

Kuna poked his tongue out at him briefly, blushing again, then took another sip of water. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh-huh. Suuuure.”

“He totally did,” Kani said. “And it’s great.”

Kuna giggled a bit. “Hey, I was just overtired, alright? I really was drifting in and out for a bit there.”

“Yeah, well, feel free to be ‘overtired’ more often,” Lykou said, wrapping an arm around him again. “That was the cutest shit.”

Kuna blushed and smiled as he drained the rest of the water in his makeshift cup. As scary as it was, he realized that the right company could help him overcome the monsters in his dreams. Now, together, they just had to prepare to overcome the one in the waking world.