Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 7: Downtime

Chapter 11

Gleam’s got a lot to learn about the world, now that she’s capable of it. Good think she found a couple of kindhearted boys to help guide her! ...although a certain subject could prove tricky to navigate.

-Llox

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“People rules are weird,” Gleam commented as she slowly walked around the ruins with Lykou and Kuna. She was getting better at walking, even if she did still stumble a little from time to time. Lykou had just finished awkwardly explaining various social taboos about certain subjects, particularly in regard to genitalia and certain activities. “I don’t understand why you’d have to hide those things. And doesn’t it get uncomfortable on hot days?”

“Well… it can, but it depends on what you’re wearing,” Lykou pointed out. “There are some things that are made to be lighter and breezier.”

“Yeah, like the sareo Lykou mentioned earlier,” Kuna added. “We got it from some islands where it was pretty warm, but it was actually really comfortable.”

“Islands…?” Gleam asked in confusion.

“Oh. Uh. An island is like a big piece of land in the middle of the water,” Lykou said. “Usually a lake or something, although apparently that one was in the middle of this huge thing called the ocean.”

Gleam blinked a few times, then sighed. “So many damn strange words,” she complained. “As much crap as that magic stuffed into my head, I’m clearly still pretty stu-”

“Hey,” Kuna warned in a way very reminiscent of how Lykou sometimes got after him for self-deprecation, and set a hand gently on her shoulder. “Come on now.”

“-...right, ig… ign… whatever that word was.”

“Ignorant,” Lykou said. “And don’t worry about it. It’s not like it’s your fault. You can’t help the fact that you’re having to learn… what, at least eighteen years worth of life stuff, all in one go? Er, maybe less if you don’t count those early years...” He thought for a moment, then scratched his head, giving her a sideways quizzical look. “Actually, how old even are you?”

“Good point. I don’t think normal squirrels live that long, but you look pretty close to our age, if I had to guess,” Kuna added.

Gleam glanced back and forth between them with a confused expression. “Y… years? I guess that’s longer than months or something?”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry, forgot about that,” Lykou replied. “It’s, uh… well, think of it as one winter to the next.”

“Oh. Winter… winter… I know that one,” Gleam replied, screwing her eyes up in thought for a moment. “That’s… that’s when things get real cold for a long time, right?”

“Mhmm. Cold season, when all sorts of creatures hide away and hibernate for a while,” Kuna confirmed, then smirked. “Including squirrels, now that I think of it.”

“Squirrel… that’s, uh,” Gleam said, then paused and smiled awkwardly. “That’s… what I am. Er. Was? Right?”

“Y...yeah. Uh, that does raise an interesting question though,” Lykou said, looking over at Kuna. “Would she still be called that, or something else?”

“Good question. Are those things you saw yesterday also technically sereva, or would they be called something else too? It’s a mystery,” Kuna said, scratching his head. “This whole thing raises a lot of questions in general…”

“No kidding,” Lykou said, then turned his attention back to Gleam. “Anyway, point is, you look about our age, but I guess you’re having to play catch-up on a lot of things you’d have otherwise learned growing up normally. Soooo... you’ll probably have to get used to being confused a lot for a while, but we’re glad to help you with it.”

“Th-thanks,” Gleam said, fidgeting with her hands a bit, clearly concerned about something. “I… don’t understand bits of what you just said, but I think I get the idea. But, um… you said… squirrels don’t live that long compared to you?”

Lykou winced and he shared a quick look with Kuna. “Well… no, not usually. Uh…”

“Given your apparent age now, though,” Kuna quickly added, hoping to assuage her concerns even if he wasn’t entirely sure himself. “I don’t think that applies to you any more. Since you at least look like you’re a couple times older than how long a normal squirrel would live… I think. Admittedly, I never really paid enough attention to them to know for sure.”

The konuul picked up on the optimistic line of thought and nodded. “Might be something about the magic that transformed you. People in general live a lot longer than wild animals.”

“Exactly,” Kuna agreed. “That glowy ball thing had an awful lot of essence in it, so that probably has something to do with it.”

“Essence?” Gleam asked curiously. “What’s that?”

“Oh, uh… magic stuff,” the sereva replied with an awkward grin. “I’ll explain later.” He gestured to the entrance of the temple, which they’d been slowly making their way towards as they chatted. “That’s where we saw those pictures, by the way, in case you were curious.”

Gleam approached somewhat anxiously and squinted her eyes as she peered through the entryway. “Is… is it safe?”

“Sure,” Lykou assured her. “You did seem pretty skittish before though. You stopped following us for a bit when we went in there.”

“...I was… following you?” Gleam asked.

“Oh, right, forgot to mention that,” Lykou said. “You found out we had some nuts and kept trying to steal them, and eventually Kuna just gave you one. So you kept following us after that.” He shot Kuna a quick glance, grinning. “Which I warned him you’d probably do.”

“Hey, I was just being nice!” Kuna said defensively with a faint smirk of his own.

“I… uh… thank… you?” Gleam said awkwardly. “I wish I could say I remember that, but… like I said, everything’s all… fuzzy.”

“You were kind of unusually brave, honestly. For a wild little critter,” Lykou commented. “At least until we got here. Most squirrels wouldn’t have come as close as you did, but then we entered here and I guess you hid away out here until we came back out.”

“Well yeah, it’s kind of dark in there,” Gleam said, eyeing the interior. “Compared to out here anyway.”

“Trust me, it’s lighter in there than you think. You just have to take a minute to adjust,” Lykou assured her, rubbing her back softly. “Bit skittish of the dark, hmm?”

“Predators like to ambush from dark places,” Gleam pointed out flatly. “Especially ones that big.”

“Oh, uh… r-right,” Lykou replied awkwardly.

“I mean, wouldn’t you?” the squirrel continued, turning to face him. “Ambush prey from there, that is.”

“M-me? Uh, n-not really,” Lykou said. “I wouldn’t hunt around buildings. I usually go for bigger prey and they tend to avoid places like this.”

“So you only eat… big things?” Gleam asked with an inquisitive, slightly narrow-eyed look.

“I, uh… ehehe, y-yeah, mostly,” the konuul answered, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “Just… m-makes sense, you know?”

She stared at him for a moment with an unreadable expression. Fortunately, Kuna came to the canid’s rescue and tugged her arm gently. “H-hey, Gleam, come on inside. I want to show you something.”

Fortunately, Gleam’s attention was easily turned away as he began leading her inside. “Oh? What is it?” she asked, then visibly tensed up as they passed into the building. “Y-you sure it’s safe?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. If anything, I get the feeling this is one of the safest areas around here,” Kuna explained, then surreptitiously glanced back to check on Lykou when she was distracted by the murals. The canid smiled and mouthed the word ‘thanks’ as he casually followed along behind them. The sereva just smiled back and nodded before turning his attention back to Gleam and the temple. “Lot of spiritual energy in here, which I usually assume to be a generally good thing.”

“S-spiritual energy?” Gleam asked, her eyes wide and darting around as she marveled at the sights.

“Yeah. Again, magic stuff. Spirits are like… well, special, magical beings from another world,” Kuna explained. “Not mortal like us.”

Gleam just furrowed her brow a bit. “M...mortal? What’s mortal?”

“Regular living things that only live for a certain amount of time,” Lykou chimed in from behind them. “Spirits don’t die, or at least not in the usual sense. They’re not even really normal living things in the first place.”

“Huh? That… that doesn’t make sense,” Gleam said as she wandered over to one side, captivated by the hovering flames. When she got close enough to see what they were, though, she recoiled a bit and clung to Kuna. “W-w-what the…”

“Yeahhh, floating magical flames,” Kuna said with a sympathetic smile. “I… can’t really explain those either, unfortunately. Just that some kind of mystical energies are at work, I assume. I can really only sense life energy and soul energy. And water energy to a small extent. Not so much fire or any others.”

“There you go talking about energy again,” Gleam said in mild exasperation, still eyeing the flame warily. “All I know is that… fire stuff is… bad, isn’t it? It’s really, really hot up close.”

“Welllll… yes and no,” Lykou said as he finally joined them by the wall, after having taken a moment to collect himself and make sure the subject had thoroughly shifted away from his carnivorous activities. “Fire can be dangerous, sure. But it’s also really useful for various things. It’s just a matter of being careful around it and learning to keep it under control.”

“Useful? How?” Gleam asked incredulously.

“Keeping warm, keeping dangerous creatures away, seeing at night, cooking,” Lykou listed off, then shrugged and grinned. “Plus, a good camp fire is just nice to sit around while telling stories and stuff. The crackle of the logs, the smell of the smoke, the pretty flickering flames, the warmth… nothing like a good campfire to relax by with some friends.”

Gleam twitched a bit. “...can you slow down and explain some of that? I don’t know what ‘cooking’ or ‘camp’ mean, and I don’t understand what any of that has to do with telling stories.”

“Cooking is where you heat food up before you eat it, basically,” Kuna explained, shrugging, then smiled at her and patted her back. “Don’t worry, I didn’t know about it until I met him either, actually.”

“Heat… food up…?” she asked in confusion. “Why?”

“Makes it taste better, for one thing,” Lykou said. “And you can do various things with it to make it even better. We’ll show you later. The ‘camp’ thing… well, basically it’s about setting up a nice place to settle down for the night and rest until morning, although that’s kind of over-simplifying it a bit.”

“Oh, so like a nest?” Gleam asked, perking up a bit. “What’s fire got to do with it?”

“Er. Kind of. Like I said though, it’s more complicated than that,” the canid continued. “And we start a fire for ourselves in a specific way so that it won’t spread, then use it for the things I mentioned.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Y-you… m-make fire yourself?”

“Mhmm. Like I said, it’s useful,” Lykou said. “Don’t worry, we’re very careful about it. You’ll see how nice it can be, trust me.”

“He’s not wrong,” Kuna reassured the squirrel. “It actually does make things feel really cozy and nice.”

She glanced back and forth between them, then looked back at the magical flame hovering in front of her. “If y-you say so…”

“Here, there’s something else I was more interested in showing you,” Kuna said, gently taking her hand and pulling her towards the back wall, by the stairs.

Lykou followed along behind them as various awkward thoughts danced through his mind. He’d eaten squirrels before, after all. It wasn’t especially common, since bigger game yielded a lot more meat for less work, but he’d done it. Squirrel stew was a staple during lean times, when he wanted a break from charnops. And until Gleam turned up, he never had any qualms about it. But with her around, he suddenly felt a lot more conflicted about it. I can’t let her know… how would I even talk to her about that? he wondered. ‘Oh yeah, I definitely ate your kind before, but you’re a person now so it’s all fine and dandy, no hard feelings right?’ Yeah, somehow I don’t think it’d be that simple…

Meanwhile, once Kuna and Gleam neared the central mural that most of the temple seemed focused around, he led her up the steps and started pointing out the various kinds of people he recognized and what they’d apparently been transformed from. “Those are called lepne. Really friendly people, generally. Well, aside from a few bad ones, but most of them were very welcoming and nice. And over there are the raptuva,” he said, pointing out the scaly, partly-feathered figure on the far side. “They’re predators like Kou, but they mostly eat fish. And lots of fruit. Those islands are loaded with tasty fruit, hehe.”

“So strange looking,” Gleam commented. “No fur?”

Kuna shook his head. “Not really. They’re the only people we’ve encountered like that so far, though.” He eyed the pre-anthropomorphic creature they supposedly came from and shivered. It was one of the few feral creatures that was always bipedal, leaving its especially large, sharp claws free for tearing into flesh. Somehow, it was one of the more terrifying creatures on the mural. He quickly shook it off and turned back to the clearly-anxious squirrel that was also staring at it. “Trust me, they’re a lot less intimidating than the, uh… whatever they apparently came from. Most of them are pretty friendly.”

“If you say so,” Gleam said, stepping away from the image. She glanced between the two forms and fidgeted. Then her attention turned to another, much larger figure looming above the others further along the wall. Her eyes widened a bit. “W-what’s that one?”

Kuna looked over, then grimaced as his eyes fell on an all-too-familiar looking hulking form. “Oh, that’s an ursaran. Stay way from them. They’re monsters even as ‘people’.”

“Oh… g-good to know” Gleam asked, shying away from the figure herself after a moment. “Does look… a bit scary. Definitely big...”

“Whoever made this mural obviously didn’t know much about them,” Kuna commented, his eye twitching. “Trust me, they’re awful. If they were being honest, that bastard would be mauling someone or-”

Lykou stepped up behind them and cleared his throat. “Going by the ones we’ve met, anyway,” he chimed in, arching a brow at the sereva.

Kuna narrowed his eyes and shot him a look. “Yeah… sure. Whatever. Safest to assume they’re all that way until we see otherwise.” He huffed and quickly turned his attention to another part of the mural. “Anyway… uh, there’s the konuul. I actually saw a statue of one of basic animal versions yesterday.”

Gleam tilted her head in confusion. “Statue?”

“Yeah, it’s… like stone that someone carved and reshaped to look like something else,” Lykou explained. “The ones around here are really well made.”

“Oh… that’s what those things are called?” the squirrel commented. “I was wondering about that… why did they make them?” She looked around at the building around them. “In fact, why did someone make any of this?”

“People just like to make things. Good way to fight boredom, you know?” Kuna said, smiling. “It’s nice to make stuff with your hands. You should give it a try sometime. I can show you how to sew, or draw or paint or something.”

“Oh yeah, he’s good at that stuff,” Lykou agreed. “You should definitely let him show you.”

“...I don’t even know what those are exactly, but sure,” Gleam said with a shrug. “What’s boredom?”

Lykou and Kuna shared a look, then smirked in mild amusement. “It’s when you really want to do something, but there doesn’t seem to be anything to do,” Lykou answered while Kuna rubbed his head.

“And you’re not tired enough to just rest.”

“That… sounds strange,” Gleam said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that.”

“Well, I think it’s mostly a people thing anyway,” Lykou explained. “So yeah, just give it time and you’ll experience it at some point.”

Gleam nodded slightly and turned her attention back to the wall. “Where’s your people, Kuna?”

“Over there,” Kuna said, pointing next to Lykou. He sighed, with a mildly disgruntled, yet bemused look. “With the big set of antlers.”

“Ant...lers?” Gleam repeated as she looked at the figure with growing confusion. “D… do you mean those things? The um. Horns on their head? Where’s-”

“Yeah I don’t have ‘em,” Kuna quickly interrupted, then poked one of the small bumps on his forehead. “They never grew in right. I’m just a freak that way. Most sereva are more like that one.”

“Oh… er, s-sorry…?” Gleam said awkwardly.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve mostly made peace with it,” Kuna said, smiling over at Lykou. He then walked over and gave the canid a hug. “Especially thanks to this big sweetheart.”

Lykou smiled and returned the embrace. “Then stop calling yourself a freak, goofball.”

“So, uh… did… did you guys go through, you know,” Gleam said, then made a slightly sweeping gesture from the feral sereva to the anthropomorphic one, and then to herself. “The uh… same thing?”

“Oh, nonono,” Lykou said, shaking his head. “In fact, before we came to this valley, we’d never seen one of… well, those.” he continued, pointing to the feral sereva, then to the feral konuul. “And we still haven’t ever seen one of those, other than the pictures here, and a statue out in the woods. It’s… kind of raising some big questions.”

“My people have an old story about how some ancient, powerful spirits picked their favorite animals and turned them into the first people,” Kuna said, looking around. “But not like this, exactly. For one thing, spirits don’t usually make buildings and stuff. And they wouldn’t need special symbols to do powerful magic, especially if they’re that old and powerful on their own.”

“Oh,” Gleam said, her expression notably falling a bit. “So… I… don’t suppose you’ve seen any other, uh… squirrel-people around, have you?”

Lykou and Kuna tensed up, then shook their heads. “Not that we’ve seen…” Kuna replied.

“Doesn’t mean there aren’t any, mind you,” Lykou quickly added. “For all we know, we just haven’t met them.”

Gleam sighed and looked around at the various creatures and people on the wall for a moment, then started fiddling with her tail idly. “Sounds like either way I’m… kind of alone now…” She rallied a little and shot Lykou a forced grin. “N-not like I could chat with the little idiots running around the trees out there, you know?”

Lykou and Kuna stared at her for a moment, then both stepped forward. Lykou gently took her hand while Kuna wrapped an arm around her again. “You don’t have to be alone, Gleam,” the sereva assured her. “I know how much that sucks. Not gonna let you endure it.”

“We may not be the same species, but we’re here for you,” Lykou said with a soft smile. “You can stay with us.”

Kuna grinned a bit. “Hey, guess I won’t be the only non-meat-eater in Lakefire after all,” he said, then turned back to Gleam. “Er, if you want to, that is.”

She glanced back and forth between them, her eyes starting to tear up. Suddenly she sat down on the floor and curled up. “This is… a-a lot…”

Kuna quickly knelt down next to her and held her gently. Lykou joined right afterwards. “Hey, it’s alright,” the konuul said quietly. “Go on, let it all out.”

“W-what is this?” Gleam said shakily as she rubbed the tears from her eye. “What… what’s wrong with me? A-am I sick?”

Kuna arched a brow, then half-smiled as he gave her a gentle squeeze. “No, you’re just… crying. It’s understandable, all things considered. Like Kou said, go on and let it all out. Believe me, you’ll feel better afterwards.”

Gleam trembled and glanced back and forth, then finally broke down into small sobs, hiding her face in her tail. Both the boys held and comforted her as best they could, murmuring soft words of comfort periodically. At one point, Kuna looked up to Lykou, then leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

“You sure?” Lykou whispered back, glancing down at the curled up girl sitting between them, still sobbing. He smiled a bit awkwardly. “I don’t want to spook her, you know. I uh… I am still a ‘sharp-tooth’ and all.”

“Trust me. I’ll back you up,” Kuna replied with a wink, then turned his attention back to Gleam. “Hey, Gleam,” he said in a more audible, but still soft tone, prompting her to look up with reddened, still tear-filled eyes. “Lykou’s going to do something real quick. Don’t panic, alright? Trust me, it helps.”

She glanced up at the konuul questioningly, just in time for him to wrap both arms around her and pull her up close, similarly to how he often held the sereva. He then scooted back to lean against the wall while cradling her a bit. She initially panicked a bit despite the warning, but Kuna took her hand and rubbed it softly, quickly calming her back down. “W-what-?”

“It’s called cuddling, and he’s really, really good at it,” the sereva said with a small grin, then made himself comfortable next to them and wrapped around to wrap an arm around the konuul, while his other hand gently rubbed her arm. “Just relax.”

She tried to glance up at the konuul’s face awkwardly, then sniffed. “...f-feels nice…”

“Told you,” Kuna playfully quipped.

Lykou chuckled a bit and gave her a gentle squeeze. “You don’t have to stay in that position if you don’t want to, though. S’just how Kuna usually likes it.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she rolled onto her side, facing Kuna, though her face was partly buried in the fur around the konuul’s neck. She instinctively nuzzled into it slightly and blushed a little. “…um. Th-thanks…”

“Of course. We can take as long as you need,” Lykou replied.

She smiled weakly after a moment, then sighed. “S-sorry, I just-”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Kuna quickly interrupted. “You’re going through a hell of a lot right now. It’s understandable you’d get overwhelmed.”

“Any time you need to just curl up and have a cry, we’ll be here for you,” Lykou assured her. “No shame in it at all.”

Gleam sniffed as some fresh tears fell, blushing slightly. “Mmkay…” she said, then eeped a little when the canid gave her another little squeeze. She smiled slightly. “...s’pretty nice...”

Kuna smiled. “Yeah, this fluffball knows what he’s doing,” he said, then shifted his gaze up to the konuul’s face. “Certainly helped me out plenty.”

“Hey, you’re not bad at it yourself, you know,” Lykou replied, blushing slightly.

The sereva rolled his eyes a bit. “You’re bigger and fluffier, so you win by default,” he said, then playfully pulled the canid’s tail around to drape across the squirrel in his lap. “And you’ve got this.”

“I think she’s actually got me beat on that one,” Lykou said in an amused tone, looking down at the big poofy tail Gleam had curled up beside her, slightly dwarfing his own.

Gleam looked at the konuul’s tail for a moment, then glanced over at Kuna questioningly after rubbing her eyes a bit. “W-wait, yeah, where’s yours?”

“Ehhh,” Kuna said with an awkward look, glancing back over his should briefly. “I just have a stubby little thing, unfortunately.”

“Hey, it’s cute,” Lykou assured him.

Again, Kuna rolled his eyes a little. “Can’t do much with it, though. Like I said, that was one part of the swap I kinda really enjoyed,” he said, then blushed a bit. “Even if it was a traitor sometimes.”

Lyckou snickered. “Admittedly that was pretty damn cute, too.”

“Swap?” Gleam asked curiously, then sniffed a bit. “What swap?”

“Oh, right… well, long story short this is far from the only magical nonsense we’ve dealt with recently,” Lykou said. “Long story short, he and I ended up being magically turned into one another’s species for a day.”

“I was a konuul and he was a sereva,” Kuna said, then twitched a bit. “Very… interesting experience.”

She stared at the sereva with a somewhat shocked look. “That… that can happen??”

“Well, it’s not exactly normal, but like I said, we’ve had to put up with a lot of crazy things in our journey,” Lykou said. “Looot of magic, and spirits, and meeting different people…”

“What’s this ‘journey’ thing?” Gleam asked, instinctively cuddling the konuul’s tail without thinking about it.

“Oh, that’s… a very long story, technically,” Kuna said with a slightly flat look. “Basically, we’re a very long way away from home thanks to some other powerful magic and we’re traveling to make our way back.”

“...the world is more terrifying than I ever thought,” Gleam said, shaking a bit. “G-great…”

Lykou gave her a gentle squeeze. “Hey, it’s not all bad. For one thing, like I said, these things are actually pretty rare. We, uh… we’re just in special circumstances,” he explained, looking away with a mildly agitated look on the last bit. But then he shook off his frustrations and brightened back up a bit. “But it’s not all bad. We’ve seen a lot of good things too. Made friends in strange places, collected really neat things-”

“Learned my own magic,” Kuna said with a grin, holding his hand up with a green glow around it and wiggling his fingers. “Trust me, it took me a long time to realize it, but the world has a lot of good stuff in it, too.”

“S-sounds like this… ‘journey’ thing is pretty scary,” she murmured softly, then glanced up at Kuna with still slightly teary eyes, but also a faint hint of a smile. “But I-I guess it’s better than being alone… ‘n’ you guys are pretty nice...”

“We try,” Kuna said, rubbing her arm again. “And trust me, it is.”

Gleam rubbed her eyes again, then nuzzled against the konuul’s fur some more. “Hehe… n-never would’ve thought being this close to a predator would be this… comfy.”

Lykou and Kuna both giggled. “I know, right?” Kuna replied. “I thought the same thing early on.”

“Well I’m just glad glad I could persuade you two,” Lykou said, then looked down at the squirrel in his arms. “I’m just glad you’ve overcome those instincts. I was a bit worried-”

“Oh believe me, they’re still there,” Gleam said with a sheepish grin. “Part of me is still screaming ‘run away, danger!’, but it’s a lot weaker now. And this is definitely helping to shut it up.”

“Ah. Well… just let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help,” Lykou said. “We had our whole childhood to overcome our instincts, and we weren’t born wild creatures, so it’s understandable if you still struggle a bit for a while.”

“You guys had to fight instincts too?” Gleam asked in confusion. “E-even though you were born as people?”

“Well, yeah. But you’re a lot different when you’re a kid compared to an adult,” Kuna pointed out. “You don’t have to be a wild animal to have instincts to overcome.”

“L-like what?”

“Honestly, mine were probably kind of similar to yours, I think,” Kuna said. “Jumping at every little unexpected sound or sudden movement, mostly.”

“Yeahhh, that was pretty exhausting,” Lykou said with a sardonic smile. “I had to put up with that when we swapped, and I definitely don’t miss it.”

Kuna snickered. “It was kind of cute to watch you being so jumpy.”

Lykou stuck his tongue out at the sereva playfully. Gleam giggled in his lap. “Yeah, sounds about right,” she said, then glanced up at Lykou curiously. “What about konuul? What kinds of instincts did you have to overcome?”

The boys shared a quick, nervous look. “Uh, w-wellll…”

“They have a weird habit of howling at the moon,” Kuna quickly interjected with a small smirk. “Can’t begin to explain it and it makes no sense. But that night when we were swapped, it was a strangely strong urge and felt good to give into it.” He then looked up and sighed, rubbing his head a bit. “You guys mind if we leave though? The energies are starting to make me feel a little overwhelmed again in here.”

“Energies again?” Gleam asked. “Okay seriously, please try to explain that stuff to me, I’m so confused.”

Kuna chuckled. “Alright, but let’s get out of here first. Gonna be hard to focus soon, and anyway we’re going to have to find a camping spot for the day so I can see about making you a blanket and sleeping mat before it gets too late.”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t even think of that,” Lykou said. “Mine’s just big enough for the two of us. And even then I’ve been worried about whenever we get into a really cold place. Should be well into autumn now, and unless we end up in another hot place, we’re going to need to bundle up more soon enough.”

“Uh, guys, words again,” Gleam said, somewhat frustrated. “Blanket? Sleeping mat?”

“Kind of like a nest I guess,” Kuna answered. “We’ll show you when we settle in wherever we decide to camp.” He stretched a bit, then stood up and offered her a hand up. “Getting harder for me to think clearly in here.”

She hesitated for a moment, reluctant to leave the konuul’s cozy embrace, but eventually took his hand and got up. Lykou stood up soon after her and collected his things. “I… guess it does feel a little strange in here…”

“Yeah but it’s more noticeable to him,” Lykou explained as they started making their way down the steps. “Magical senses and all.”

“Basically, the world has all these mystical energies flowing into it from the spirit world. It’s… kind of what makes a lot of things, well… work, for lack of a better way of putting it,” Kuna started explaining. “Life energy, for example. It’s flowing through our bodies all the time. Helps you grow and heal and whatnot. There’s a lot more than usual in here though, just kind of floating around through everything. Which is strange, since it usually only flows through living things.”

“That’s what he’s using when his hands are all green,” Lykou added helpfully. “Lets him do stuff like make plants grow and move, and heal people.”

“Wow, really?” Gleam said, ogling the sereva’s hand for a moment. “Can… can you show me? The plant bit, I mean.”

“Sure, once we get outside,” Kuna said. “In fact, once we find a decent place to camp, I usually use it to set up a shelter or a barrier to protect us, in case there’s any dangerous creatures roaming around.”

“Plus it helps keep rain off of us, although a cave’s better for that,” Lykou said, then looked up at the sky once they were outside. He frowned slightly. “Or… a building. Which, uh, we might need to use, if the sky gets any cloudier.”

Kuna looked up as well. “Oh, yeah… didn’t even notice that earlier. Was so sunny this morning.”

Gleam sniffed the air and twitched a bit. “What, is rain bad?”

“Well, not bad exactly, but you don’t want to sleep in it,” Lykou said, then adjusted his pack a bit. “And we have things we don’t want to get wet. Including our clothes.” He smirked. “Trust me, you don’t want to be stuck wearing wet clothes. Feels annoying.”

“Unless it’s made for it, like the sareo,” Kuna said. “But even then, it’s better to keep things dry.”

“Oh… okay,” Gleam said, looking around. “Sooo… where do we go now?”

Lykou and Kuna looked around as well, contemplating. “...hey, why don’t we just use that other building?” the konuul suggested, pointing to the one with the flat raised floor segments along the back wall. It was one of the only others that had solid walls, rather than just rows of columns. “It’s pretty solid.”

Kuna shrugged. “Sounds reasonable to me. That way I don’t have to do much, just cover up the entrance.”

“Exactly,” Lykou said as they started walking towards the building.

Gleam looked over the structure as they approached it. “These… ‘buildings’… people make them?”

“Mhmm. Or that’s what we’re assuming anyway,” Kuna said. “Again, whoever built these ones are long gone and we know nothing about them. But a lot of people build big things out of stone and wood and such to live in, store things, and so on. They can vary a lot.”

“Yeah, Lakefire’s buildings aren’t really this big or… fancy. But they’re pretty solid,” Lykou added. “We’ve seen a bit of a variety of different styles on this trip, though.”

“This Lakefire place… what is it?” Gleam asked. “Those two things sound like opposites…”

Lykou snickered. “It’s the name for where I come from. My peoples’ village. It’s a collection of buildings where a whole bunch of people live. We call it Lakefire because the lake it sits besides glows like a bright fire when the sunlight hits it and the cliff next to it just right. It’s really pretty,” he said, then sighed, his smile fading slightly. “I really miss it.” Kuna wrapped an arm around him and gave him a gentle squeeze, which he happily reciprocated.

“A… l-lot of people, huh?” Gleam asked anxiously as they approached the building’s entry. “H-how many?”

“A bunch. But don’t worry, they’re all great,” Lykou assured her.

Kuna rubbed her shoulder softly. “Hey don’t worry, I’m not great with crowds either. But I think we’ll both be fine. Everything he’s told me about it sounds really nice.”

Gleam paused and shot him a questioning look. “W-wait, you haven’t been there? Where are you from?” she asked. “What kinds of buildings do sereva have?”

Kuna tensed up and looked away uncomfortably. “Uh, w-well, most sereva kind of… migrate around s-so they’re, uh… kind of temporary and portable.”

Lykou held him close and winced. “That’s… kind of a sensitive subject for him. We can tell you later if he’s up for it.”

Gleam stared at Kuna for a moment, then took his hand. “You… did say you knew what it was like t-”

“To be alone, yeah,” the sereva said with a heavy sigh. After a moment, he let a faint smile creep back and looked back at the konuul. “Luckily Kou rescued me from that.” He turned back to the squirrel and pulled her into a little hug as well. “Just like we’re not gonna let you suffer it.”

She smiled in response and her tail twitched a bit. “I-I’m glad neither of us has to be alone, then.”