Mystic Heart Odyssey

Naira’s Search, pt. 3

Now THIS aside takes place roughly around the end of the Crimson Isles arc. So yeah, less backdating this time!

-Llox

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Nearly two months had passed since Naira discovered the abandoned campsite. As promised, Leis began her survival training and taught her to use a bow, with others pitching in to help her along as well when he wasn’t available. It’d been slow and frustrating at first, especially given the friction between the two, but she eventually started becoming competent enough to fend for herself out in the wilderness. Once Ryvis was satisfied that she could handle herself well enough, he gave his blessing for her to resume her investigation, which she did with immense enthusiasm. Kezhna even gave Naira her own old bow from her early days as a hunter, before she found out she preferred more… up close and personal hunting methods.

But Naira’s enthusiasm eventually started to sour as time went by. Despite lots of searching around near the campsite, no new clues turned up. She ended up spending more and more time at the site, hoping she’d spot or realize something she’d missed before. She even found herself desperately hoping some spirit would turn up and give her some kind of guidance or clue about what happened to her best friend. And in her frustration and social isolation, her habit of talking to herself and inanimate objects out loud had come back with a vengeance.

“GrrrDAMMIT!” she swore as she tossed a broken, incomplete arrow shaft aside. It joined a collection of several others in various states of creation laying nearby. She’d actually gotten fairly decent at the job, as well as keeping track of the sunstone tips so she could re-use them. But every now and then she had a little meltdown, which led to numerous failed attempts. “Stop breaking, you little bastards! UGH!”

After a moment, she glared over at the fire pit, where a small wind gust kicked up some of the recent ash. “Oh fuck off, don’t you start mocking me,” she muttered, then turned back to the pile of un-carved sticks sitting on her other side. “See, that’s where you’re headed if you don’t cooperate.” She reached down and snatched one up, holding her knife to it firmly. “So you better fucking cooperate.”

A few minutes, some grunting, and some carving later, there was another outburst of swearing. Only this time, in her frustration, she nicked her thumb with the knife, causing the swearing to double. “Oh DAMMIT ALL TO SHIT!”

Grumbling to herself, she stalked over to the nearby stream and washed her thumb off with a wince, then wrapped it with some spare cloth she had on hand. Luckily, it was a very small cut. But it still stung like hell in the cold water. “WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE ME?!” she demanded out loud, then stalked back over to the entrance to the cave and slumped down, giving up on making arrows for the time being. She stared at the paintings on the wall thoughtfully for a while, as if searching for some hidden meaning she’d missed until then.

“...whoever you are, why couldn’t you leave me more clues to follow?” she grumbled. “I’ve searched everywhere. Did you seriously do nothing but hang around this cave and paint all day every day? Surely you must’ve had decent tools for…” she trailed off for a moment, looking around. She’d long since disposed of any rotting plant matter left around the site, and it would’ve been even further gone by then anyway. “...something.”

After a few minutes, she sat back up and shifted over to look at the images up close again, focusing in particular on an image she suspected represented the artist. “Seriously, what’s your deal? All alone out here, munching on plant shit, no fires… just… fucking tell me something, already.” She stared at the picture thoughtfully for a moment, noting the way it’d been slashed through, as if in self-disgust or anger. She then arched a brow, as if having an actual conversation with it. “...help me find Lykou and maybe we can help you?”

Several minutes of awkward silence followed. She blinked a few times, then slumped back over. “You’re talking to cave paintings, Naira. You’ve really lost it.”

“I could’ve told you that,” an infuriatingly familiar voice chimed in.

She furrowed her brows and slowly sat up, then turned to shoot her unexpected visitor a withering look. “Leis.”

“Hello Naira,” Leis replied, arms crossed. “Investigation’s going well, I see.”

“Fuck off,” Naira retorted wearily. “What are you even doing out here? I wasn’t expecting company this evening.”

Leis sighed and shook his head slowly. “I wanted to check in on you, since it’s been a couple days since anyone saw you. Looks like I was right, too. You’re just sitting out here, wasting time and Asher resources.”

Naira’s eye twitched slightly. “In case you forgot, I’m getting my own food and resources these days.”

“Barely, from the looks of it,” Leis pointed out, glancing down at the failed arrow attempts. “And anyway, the pack and tools still technically belong to the tribe.”

“Which chief is letting me use,” Naira retorted.

“For now. He might reconsider if he founds out this is how they’re being used, though,” Leis calmly replied.

“Dammit, Leis, I thought we were past this,” Naira said, bristling and starting to tear up. “You know damnwell I’ll crawl out here butt-ass naked with no tools if I have to. I am NOT giving up.”

Leis stared at her for a minute, then rubbed his head and sighed again. “Yeah, no shit. Fuck me for thinking I could reason with you again, I guess.”

“Why do you want me to quit so bad, dammit?!” she finally snapped. “I thought you wanted answers too??!”

“I do, but obviously you’re not getting any this way!” Leis replied, starting to grow agitated himself. “And-”

“And Leis has a hard time saying things politely sometimes,” another voice said as a large hand slapped down and grabbed his shoulder in a vice-like grip, making him wince.

“Gck-! N-Kezhna, uh-” Leis replied with a nervous smile. “I just-”

“Why don’t you leave the talking to me, hmm?” Kezhna said, with a grin more dangerous than a rabid wolverine.

Leis gulped and nodded, backing away after she released his shoulder. “R-right, of course!”

With him out of the way, Kezhna turned back to Naira, who was stubbornly trying to avoid meeting her eye. “What he should have said, is that we’re all worried about you, Nai-Nai,” she said after a moment, then walked over and sat down next to her. “Doesn’t look like things are going particularly well right now.”

Naira remained silent for another few moments, then sighed and buried her head in her arms. “I… I can’t give up, Kezh. I just can’t.”

Kezhna waited for a moment, then looked over at the blanket laying in the cave nearby and pulled it over. “Nobody is saying you should. Me, least of all,” she said quietly, looking the blanket over idly. “Any particular reason you’re keeping this around? Your own not warm enough out here?”

Naira looked up for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I just… think it’s important,” she mumbled. “With its condition being so much better than anything else here, whoever this person was must have felt it was important enough to take good care of it, maybe more than themselves. I… guess I’m hoping that means they’ll eventually turn up looking for it, and I’ll be able to ask them questions, or something.” She sighed. “It’s dumb, I know, but at this point-”

“Not really. It makes sense to me,” Kezhna replied. “I’d think they would have come back by now if it were that simple, though.”

“Yeah, I know,” Naira replied, resting her head on her arms again. “But I’ve searched and searched, and… just… nothing. It’s like whoever it was just disappeared without a trace just like Kou did.”

Kezhna nodded a bit, and the two sat in silence for a few more minutes. “...he wouldn’t want you to be making yourself miserable out here, you know,” she finally said, quietly. “Driving yourself crazy all on your own… talking to things…”

Naira flushed a bit and looked around anxiously. “Uh, w-whaaat? I-”

“We all heard you when we were approaching, Nai-Nai,” Kezhna replied with a faint smirk. “Honestly, I think it’s kind of funny, but it’s still a bit concerning, too. All this time being out here alone isn’t good for you.”

“Mm…” Naira looked over at the paintings again briefly. “...whoever lived here managed it, somehow, from the looks of it.”

“...not happily, I think,” Kezhna retorted, glancing at them as well.

There was another extended silence, which Naira eventually broke. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I just… knew something. Anything. Some kind of answer and not just… tons of questions.”

“I want that, too, Nai-Nai. Believe me, I… hate not knowing,” Kezhna confessed, her own eyes falling as a rare pained expression crossed her face. “It’s infuriating. Nobody and nothing to blame, just… empty questions.” She turned to look over at the other konuul again. “But I don’t think looking at the same paintings over and over again will bring any new answers at this point.”

Naira folded her ears down. “I know…”

Kezhna rested a hand on Naira’s shoulder softly. “...you know, my brother was always probably one of the most spiritual members of the tribe,” she said eventually. “What, with being a chaser and all. I’d like to think that, wherever he is, at least he’s probably got some good spirits out there, keeping an eye on him.”

Naira smirked faintly and nodded. “I… I’d like to think so, too.”

Leis returned with an arm load of firewood, with Oren along with him. The latter set his collection down and walked over to join them, leaning against the cave entrance, while the former started getting a fire going. “Hey Nai.”

“Hey Ore,” Naira replied.

“How’ve you been?” he asked with a soft smile, already knowing the answer.

“Not great,” Naira said, then looked over at Kezhna and smiled weakly. “I… guess I probably should take a break for a little bit.” She glanced between them, then quickly added. “A short one.”

“That’s all we ask,” Kezhna said, patting her back softly. “Just come back to Lakefire for a few days.” She grinned. “We can make sure your hunting skills are still sharp.”

“As sharp as ever,” Naira replied, then glanced over at the pile of sticks near where she’d previously been sitting. “...arrow-making, on the other hand… maybe not so much at the moment.”

“Never work on those when you’re that agitated,” Leis chimed in. “Just saying.”

Naira sighed. “Couldn’t stand going a few days without having me around to criticize, could ya Leis?”

Leis hesitated, glancing at Kezhna warily, then looked back to Naira. “...hard as it is to believe, I do worry about you as much as anyone.”

Naira stared at him for a moment, then blew some hair out of her eye. “Yeah, alright,” she replied with a faint smirk. “Just promise me you’ll tone it down a bit.”

Kezhna opened her mouth to say something, but Leis beat her to it without needing to be indirectly threatened, “Hey, as long as you’re willing to come back for a few days, consider my tongue thoroughly bitten.”

“With that out of the way,” Oren interjected, pulling some fish out of his bag with a smile. “I brought these and some charnops. Figured you could use a little change from your routine out here. Had to salt the fish so it wouldn’t spoil, but it should cook up great.”

Naira perked up and grinned. “Well look at you, sneaking some of your catch out here. Naughty boy.”

“Well, yesterday went pretty well on my end. Seemed logical to share the bounty with the tribe’s current most isolated member,” Oren replied with a smirk. “Turning in every last fish would’ve been a waste of time when I know where some clearly should go.”

“You and Lykou obviously rubbed off on him,” Leis lamented. “Shame. I had such high hopes for you, Oren.”

Kezhna and Naira snickered. “What can I say? Mischief does have its perks sometimes,” Oren retorted.

*****

After dinner, the group settled in for an early night, in preparation to leave early the next morning. Naira had a hard time sleeping, however. Eventually, she stepped away while the others were asleep, deciding to take a short walk down along the nearby stream to try and clear her head. With the moon shining down onto the rippling water, and a chill in the air, she found herself staring up at the stars as she sat down by the water’s edge, wondering if Lykou was looking up at them at the same time, somewhere else.

“If there are any spirits out there listening,” she murmured quietly. “Please take care of Lykou.” She sighed and turned her gaze back down to the stream. “And some answers would be freaking great, too…”

“What a nice little prayer,” another voice, which she didn’t recognize in the slightest, spoke up from nearby, startling her out of her wits. “And here I thought you folks didn’t do that kind of thing anymore.”

“Who the fuck are you?!” Naira blurted out, quickly getting to her feet and backing away. She regretted not thinking to bring her knife with her on her walk. She could barely see the stranger lurking in the dark a few feet away. He blended in almost perfectly with the darkness under the tree he was leaning against, other than the strange bangles on his wrists and ankles. His eyes also gave off a slight twinkle.

“Name’s Zynshal,” the stranger said, standing up straight and stepping out into the moonlight. “You’re… Naira, right?” he asked, pointing a finger at her nonchalantly. “At least I hope so. I know my scrying could use more practice.”

Naira’s jaw practically hit the ground when she saw him. He was definitely not a konuul, or anything she’d ever seen or heard of. And… not that she wanted to dwell on it too much, but he was incredibly attractive for a… whatever he was.

“Y...y-yes…? H-how do you know m-my name?” she asked nervously. “W-what exactly are you? Are…” She paused, then lowered her voice. “A-are you a spirit…?”

Zyn chuckled and shook his head. “Normally I’d play the part, but in honor of a mutual friend, I figured I’d forgo the routine.”

“Wait… mutual fr- do you know where Lykou is?!” Naira demanded, suddenly advancing on him while glaring with a burning intensity. “Did you do something to him?! Or know who did?!”

“Woah, hey now,” Zyn replied, then teleported behind her with his hands up in a placating gesture. “Take it easy, no need to get hostile.”

Naira’s eye twitched as all the intensity drained out of her and she slowly turned to face him again. She looked back and forth between where he was standing and where he’d been standing a moment before. “D… did you just-…. But…”

“Heh, yeah, sorry, bad habit of mine,” Zyn said with a nonchalant shrug, then teleported over by a tree near her with a low hanging branch, which he was sitting on… upside-down. “Drives them both absolutely nuts. I’ve been trying to break it but,” he continued, then teleported next to her, with his arms crossed. “Hard one to quit, y’know?”

“Tha… you… buh…” she sputtered, slowly backing away and stumbling slightly in the process. “Y-you’re… not a spi… but… the magic…?”

“Oh, right, you guys are extra unfamiliar with that aren’t you?” Zyn said, frowning a bit. “Eh, sorry, I’ll try a bit harder to restrain myself.” He summoned up a pale yellow glow around his hand and raised a section of ground up into a comfortable seat, which he then teleported to and casually reclined back in. “Right, so. People can do magic too, not just spirits, although uh…” He gestured to himself and the seat. “Admittedly not usually nearly to this degree, though. My people are kinda special that way.”

Naira just slowly blinked at him, then started to fall sideways towards the stream.

“Woahshit-” he blurted out, then quickly teleported over to catch her and laid her on another, similar earthen seat. “Careful now... wouldn’t wanna take an impromptu bath, would you?”

“...either I’m dreaming or I’ve finally lost it,” Naira mumbled when she recovered a moment later, then blushed a bit as she stared nervously up at the dark, attractive stranger kneeling down next to her. “...or I died and the afterlife is a lot…” She paused to look him up and down, then hesitantly continue, “More… mmn… interesting than I expected.”

Zyn stared back at her for a moment, then grinned lounged next to her after moving his own seat next to hers. “I assure you, you’re still perfectly alive,” he said, then, despite his better judgement, took a moment to reciprocate her ogling. “...and in pretty good shape, too.”

Naira blushed a bit more, unsure how to feel about that. “...th...thanks?” Several thoughts and emotions battled in her mind, but she eventually managed to push most of them aside for more important matters. “...so is this a dream then, or…?”

“Nope. All real,” the jarzin assured her. He sighed and glanced up at the sky briefly as a faint, shadowy entity swooped through the air, seemingly looking for something. He winced and slid back a bit, casting himself in some more shadows. “Unfortunately, as much as I’d love to stick around and get to know you better, I don’t have time to linger and chat. So I’ll just cut to the chase. You’re a close friend of Lykou’s, right?”

“YES!” Naira replied, immediately getting up. “I AM! Where is he, is he alright?! What hap-”

Zyn winced and teleported behind her, covering her mouth as he scanned the sky for any sign of Inkari’s other little… ‘assistant’. “Shhh… not so loud!” he whispered, then slowly released her.

“Why?!” she whisper-shouted and turned to face him again, her anger returning. “What the fuck is going on??”

“Fair questions, but I don’t have much time. Long story short, I’m really not supposed to be here right now, and an actual spirit that works for the same person I do is looking for me, so I can’t go into any details. But just know that Lykou is alive and well,” he said, then paused and smiled sheepishly as he thought about his words. “...well, he’s alive anyway, and physically well. He’s understandably upset about being separated from his friends and family and all that. But he’s working on getting back.”

“Thank fuck!” Naira replied, then grabbed his shoulders forcefully as tears poked out of the corners of her eyes. “Where?! Just tell me that!”

“A very long way away. It wouldn’t help to try and explain it even if I had the time,” Zyn replied, shooting another wary glance upwards. “Listen, I know you have a million questions and I wish I could answer them. But for now, just know that he and Kuna are making their way back as quick and best as they can-”

“Who??” Naira asked, furrowing her brow.

“Ku-… ohhh, right, you don’t know about him either,” Zyn said, rubbing his chin and grinning. Then he sighed. “Like I said, no time. Just know he isn’t alone.”

Naira frowned and tightened her grip on his shoulders. “How exactly do I know you’re not just fucking with me?”

“Well-” Zyn began, then teleported away for a moment after shooting a quick, wide-eyed look overhead again.

“Wha-” Naira started to ask, frantically looking around for him. Then she got the biggest scare of her life when a mass of seemingly living shadows descended down to where the jarzin had been a moment before, with dimly-glowing eyes as it searched around. When it saw her, it regarded her with mild curiosity for a moment, then flitted off into the forest after searching around a bit.

A few moments later, Zyn reappeared, staring off in the direction the shadow spirit went. When he was sure the coast was clear, he turned back to the very petrified-looking konuul. “Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to avoid,” he said quietly, pointing off the direction the spirit had left. “Its name is Chaiko. Don’t worry, it’s just looking for me.”

“Th-that w-w-was a s-s-spirit?” Naira said, looking off into the distance warily. “W-what kind?”

“Shadow, obviously,” Zyn said with a shrug. “Creepy maybe, but harmless unless you piss it off. And even then more likely to just leave, usually. I’m just a special case right now, so all the same, I better get going.”

Suddenly, he teleported around behind her and leaned in to whisper in her ear while slipping something into her hand, “And hopefully this will answer your last question. Bye for now, cute stuff~”

Naira instinctively whirled around to deck him with her other hand, but she met only air. “What the-??!” she said, turning to look around. “Where-…. Ugh!” She never let anyone get that close with her- except Lykou and Oren, sometimes- so she was more than incensed by the stranger’s forwardness. Although… at the same time she couldn’t deny another part of her felt differently. “He was damn hot, admittedly_,_” she mumbled to herself. “And I’m pretty sure that since he’s another species, I wouldn’t have to worry about-” She immediately smacked herself for even thinking about such things in a time like that. “Get it together, you idiot. I know it’s been ages, but come on. This is embarrassing…”

She paused for a moment. “Aaaand you’re fucking talking to yourself again,” she grumbled as she glanced back down into the nearby stream. She then looked around and noticed that the ground that had previously been turned into a pair of makeshift chairs was back to normal as well. She sighed. “...and you probably just hallucinated this whole thing in the first place. Guess it’s official, I finally fucking-” she started to say, bringing her hand up to her face. But that was when she was reminded of the object in her hand and turned get a better look at it in the direct moonlight. Her other hand immediately shot up to her maw when she saw that she was holding one of the spirit charms she’d helped Lykou hand-make for his spirit-chasing job.

Slowly, she brought the charm to her chest as she stared off into the night. “It… was real?” she whispered quietly. Slowly, a tear trickled down her cheek. “He’s… alive… Kou’s alive! Oh thank fuck…” she said, choking back a relieved sob. “And he’s out there somewhere, making his way back…”

Then another thought came to her and she turned to look back upstream. She must’ve wandered further than she thought, for none of her outbursts to wake her companions. Did she dare tell them? “It sounds too crazy for anyone to believe… fuck, I experienced it and I’m still struggling to believe it.” She sighed again and rubbed her head. “...I really… really hate it, but… I’ll have to keep this one to myself for now...”

After taking a few minutes to collect herself, looking down at the charm in her hand, she made her way back to the camp. Sure enough, the others were all still fast asleep, with the small remnants of the fire still burning away in the firepit nearby. She crept past them and settled back into her spot in the mouth of the cave.

That’s when another thought hit her. Zynshal had mentioned that Lykou wasn’t traveling alone. “Kuna…” she whispered, leaning over to trace her fingers lightly over the paintings on the wall across from her. She sat back after a moment and continued eyeing them thoughtfully, wondering...