Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 7: Downtime

Chapter 13

Finally time for a bit of R&R, especially for a particularly exhausted squirrel girl.

-Llox

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Lykou gently laid a hand on Kuna’s shoulder. Kuna looked up and they smiled at each other, then the canid knelt down next to him and Gleam. He made sure to let the squirrel know of his presence, before wrapping an arm around her as well.

Finally, Gleam straightened up a little and rubbed her eyes, then looked up at Kuna. “W… was that -hic- thing you were doing, um...”

“Yes, that was singing,” Kuna said, blushing a bit and rolling his eyes slightly. “Just a lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was little sometimes. Thought it might help you.”

“It s-sounded really nice,” Gleam said, then folded her ears down. “I, uh… s-sorry I’m kind of -hic- extra confused right now. W-what just -hic- happened? L-last thing I remember was… s-sitting down over -hic- near there fire...”

“Zyn showed up,” Lykou quietly explained, then shot the jarzin a quick glare and raised his voice just enough for him to hear. “With a bit more creepiness than usual, I might add!” He turned back to the squirrel and lowered his voice again. “And I guess it freaked you out a bit more than you could handle.”

“Bad series of mixups just made it worse,” Kuna added quietly, stroking her arm softly. “And I guess that triggered something. I think your instincts took over completely and you were just totally filled up with panic.”

“Oh… f-fuck, I’m s-sorry,” Gleam apologized, curling up a bit in embarrassment, then let out a shuddering sigh. “Dammit…”

“Hey, no, it’s not your fault, Gleam,” Kuna assured her, giving her a gentle squeeze. “You can’t help it.”

“Exactly,” Lykou agreed, stroking her back softly. “Nobody’s blaming you.”

“Still feel dumb,” Gleam said, frowning. She shook herself out of her funk a moment later though and tried to rally herself a bit. “I think I’m okay now -hic- though… other than that.” She groaned a bit. “Fuck, why can’t I stop doing -hic- that?”

“What, hiccups?” Lykou said with a sympathetic, yet mildly amused half-smile. “Yeah, they’re frustrating. But they’ll go away soon. Some water might help though.”

“S-sounds -hic- good,” Gleam said, then took a deep breath to try and collect herself a bit. “Er. Z… Zyn...” After a moment, she peeked past Kuna and spotted the jarzin, then shrank down a bit as she eyed him. “R-right… p-powerful -hic- magic guy you mentioned…”

Zyn spotted her looking and waved with an awkward smile. When she shied away, his smile faded and he slumped back against the building’s wall. Lykou watched him for a moment, thrown off by just how genuinely guilty and ashamed he looked. He might’ve been annoyed at the jarzin, but also knew he generally meant well and probably couldn’t have anticipated just how jumpy Gleam would be before he showed up. He sighed and turned back to the squirrel. “Yeah, like I said, he’s harmless. He just isn’t great with self-restraint.”

“Maybe he should go for now,” Kuna commented quietly, glancing over his shoulder through narrowed eyes. “I think Gleam’s had enough excitement for one day.”

“N-no, don’t… don’t chase him off,” Gleam spoke up, fiddling with her tail a bit. “S-seriously guys, it’s -hic- not his fault I’m l-like this.”

“Mm… still, we’ve been after him about sneaking up on us,” Kuna said, then sighed. “But if you’re okay with it…”

“I think he does genuinely feel bad about this,” Lykou pointed out, looking over at the jarzin again. “We should at least give him a chance to apologize and properly meet her.”

“I… guess I -hic- should get up then,” Gleam said, clearly a little anxious. “A-and go say hi.”

“Only when you’re ready,” Kuna assured her.

“...not gonna -hic- get any more ready than now,” the squirrel replied with a little shrug. “Uh… y-you mind leading the -hic- way though, Lykou?”

“Sure,” the canid said, then got up and extended a hand to help her, then Kuna up as well. He then led the way back to where the jarzin was waiting.

Zyn straightened up as they approached, but didn’t say anything, instead just quietly trying to catch glimpses of Gleam.

“Alright, Zyn,” Lykou said. “No-”

“Teleporting around or fancy magic,” Zyn finished for him. “Yeah no, I got it, believe me.” He turned to Gleam, who was doing her best to keep most of herself hidden behind the boys. “Um… so…”

Kuna crossed his arms and just glared at the jarzin in silence. Lykou glanced back and forth between them, then sighed and gently coaxed Gleam out of hiding behind them. “So, this is Gleam. Gleam, meet Zynshal. Zyn for short.”

“H-hi,” the squirrel said shyly, huddling up to Kuna as she eyed the jarzin with wide, nervous eyes. “Um… s-sorry for-”

“Woah, no,” Zyn interrupted holding up a hand. “I’m sorry. Sincerely. I should have known better and been more careful how I approached, especially not knowing anything about you.” He smirked awkwardly and rubbed his neck. “These guys are always fussing at me about sneaking up on them all the time anyway.”

“Yeah so maybe work on that,” Kuna said, still staring at him through narrowed eyes. After a moment, he finally relented somewhat though. “Honestly, why can’t you just walk up normally? Why’s that such a habit for you?”

“Hey, when you get used to traveling around by magic, old-fashioned walking is… really tedious,” Zyn replied with a faint smirk. “Imagine people tried to tell you to get around without your legs. Just squirming around on the ground.”

Kuna arched a brow. “If you say so. Still doesn’t excuse creeping up in the dark with that damn… eye thing you and Ink do, though.”

“Oh, that,” Zyn said with a sheepish grin. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about how that’d look, so sorry again. I was just trying to get a look at her soul since… well, you know.” He gestured broadly at the squirrel. “Considering...”

“Soul?” Gleam asked curiously, then glanced at Kuna. “What’s he -hic- talking about?”

“Complicated, I’ll tell you later,” Kuna said simply, then gave Zyn a look. “Isn’t it rude to go peeking at peoples’ souls without permission?”

“Welllll… only if you look too close. Spirits do it all the time, after all. A lot of them literally can’t even stop themselves,” Zyn replied. “And anyway, I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. You guys see it too, right?” He smiled sheepishly at Gleam. “No offense, but you look a lot like-”

“Yeah no, she is,” Lykou said. “We actually need to talk to you about that. Today has been… extremely interesting, to say the least.”

“Oh, you mean me being -hic- people-ified,” Gleam said with a flat look, finally catching onto what Zyn was getting at. “Yeah, I’m a sq-hic- squirrel. Former dumb animal until weird old magic -hic- made me, uh… this.”

Zyn stared at her with wide eyes in silence for a moment. He then glanced back and forth between Lykou and Kuna. “...is this some kind of trick to get back at me for startling you two all the time?”

“Nope. Whoever left these ruins, it looks like they did this kind of thing a good bit. Didn’t you look around before we got here?” Kuna asked dubiously.

“Yeah, I did, and I’m aware of the murals and whatnot. In fact, this place is a pretty well-known mystery among jarzin, spirits, and various others,” Zyn said, staring at Gleam once again in fascination. “But uh… that’s all that was supposed to be here. Really interesting art and a bunch of old rumors and mysteries with nothing to back them up.”

“What rumors, exactly?” Lykou asked, giving him a look. “You failed to mention any to us before.”

“Well, before I tell you that, can you tell me how exactly,” Zyn said, then paused to gesture at Gleam. “This happened? Again, no offense Gleam.”

Gleam shrugged. “Honestly still curious -hic- myself, but I have a feeling it’ll all just -hic- confuse me more anyway.”

“Okay, right, time out a moment,” Zyn said, then grinned at her. “Want me to help you with those hiccups?”

“Uh, Zyn,” Kuna said in a warning tone. “What are you-?”

“Hey, just think of it as me trying to make up for scaring them into her in the first place,” the jarzin said, then turned back to the squirrel. “It’ll involve magic, but I promise it won’t be scary.”

Gleam gulped and clung to Kuna again nervously. “I dunno, magic and I have had a -hic- mixed relationship so far…” she said. She furrowed her brow when she hiccuped again. “Gah! Fine, just make them -hic- stop!”

“There are mundane cures too, you know,” Lykou pointed out.

“I don’t think intentionally scaring her more is a great idea,” Kuna retorted.

Lykou shook his head. “I was talking about the water trick.”

“...oh, right,” Kuna said. “Still, that one doesn’t always work, for me at least.”

“Well while you’re debating that,” Zyn said, then cautiously approached Gleam. He paused when she tensed up and held his hands up. “Just need to get up close, alright? This’ll only take a moment.”

Gleam hesitated and shot Kuna a nervous look, then gulped and nodded, hiccuping in the process. “’kay…”

Kuna gently wrapped an arm around her to comfort her while Zyn did his thing. The jarzin’s hands began to glow as he stepped over, then laid a finger in the middle of her chest. The green energy began to flow into her, and he slowly traced his finger up to her throat, making her twitch and shiver as she was subjected to a strange sensation. He slowly pulled back his hand and made an odd gesture, then snapped his fingers.

Gleam jerked slightly, then blinked and rubbed her throat for a minute. “...they’re… gone?” she said quietly, then slowly smiled. “W-wow. That felt weird, but… it worked! Thanks!”

“Think nothing of it. Least I could do after that whole mess,” Zyn said, then tilted his head. “While doing that though, I noticed you’re pretty bruised up under all that fur.” He shot Kuna, then Lykou a playful grin. “These two haven’t been beating you up, have they?”

“No!” Gleam quickly blurted out, not realizing he was joking. “Th-they’ve been very nice! I um…” She blushed and rubbed her arm with a sheepish look. “...I kinda did all that to myself in blind panic.”

“He knows, he was just trying to be ‘funny’,” Kuna said, shooting the jarzin a look.

“Sorry,” Zyn said, rubbing his neck a bit. “Just trying to lighten the mood a little…”

“You’re fine, Zyn,” Lykou assured him. “But it’s been a long day. Lets go sit down while we chat.”

“Yes. Please,” Gleam said with an exhausted expression, letting out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know how much more of this day I can take…”

“Sure. But as I was starting to say, I’d be happy to help you with those bruises, too,” Zyn offered as the group started walking over to the campfire.

Kuna glanced down at Gleam. “Hey, that might be a good idea. I wanted to help you with those myself, but I really only know how to deal with cuts and stuff.”

“Heh, funny how that works,” Zyn commented. “The worse things are sometimes easier to fix because it’s more obvious what’s wrong.” He turned his attention back to the squirrel. “But like I said, I’d be glad to help with those too.”

“Mm… sure,” Gleam said as she made her way back over to the growths Kuna had conjured up for them. She then flopped down unceremoniously and leaned back, staring up at the sky. “As long as I can just sit here and not move for a while.”

Lykou quickly got down and slid behind her, pulling her into cuddle position, and Kuna plopped down next to them and promptly resumed his sewing project.

Zyn eyed them with curious amusement. “...cuddly bunch, aren’t you?” he commented, glancing between Lykou and Kuna. “And here I thought that was just a thing between you two.”

“Hey, after the day she’s had, she needs it,” Lykou commented with a small grin, giving the squirrel a gentle squeeze. “What, you don’t cuddle your friends?”

“...can’t say I’ve made a habit of it, but hey, no judgement,” Zyn replied with a shrug. For a moment, he glanced away, seemingly pondering the concept briefly.

“Well, feel free to join us. Got room on my other side here, if you wanna make another one of these, uh,” the canid said, glancing back at the thing he was leaning on. “...whatever they are, to lean on.”

Zyn shrugged and conjured up his own prop, then flopped down on Lykou’s other side. “Glad to see you thinking with magic more, Kuna. Surprised you’re even bothering with sewing if you can just manipulate plants this well though,” he commented, then turned his attention to Gleam, his hand glowing green again. “Hold still Gleam, this’ll just take a moment.”

Kuna shrugged. “Still have trouble with little intricate details. Plus, working with my hands is relaxing.”

Gleam tensed up and twitched repeatedly as the jarzin patched up the remaining bruises and scrapes she’d suffered throughout the day. When it was over, she let out a relieved sigh, then yawned and leaned back into Lykou’s arms. “Th-thanks,” she said quietly.

“No problem,” Zyn replied. “You look like you’re about to pass right out though. Anything else I can do for you?”

The squirrel shook her head with a tired expression, then yawned. She looked around for a moment, then reached over for the nearby waterskin.

“She’s had an extremely exhausting day,” Lykou commented, helping the squirrel take another drink from the container. “I’m surprised she’s not already conked out.”

“I bet. Sudden sentience can’t be easy to grapple with,” Zyn said, then gently rubbed Gleam’s shoulder with a sympathetic smile. “Welcome to the world of the ascended, Gleam. I promise it’ll get a bit easier as you get used to things.”

“Ascendant?” Kuna asked, arching a brow.

“Mm, more big words,” Gleam mumbled after she was done drinking. “Great…”

“Just a fancy word for ‘people’, among other things, although that’s oversimplifying it a bit,” Zyn explained, then smirked. “Leave it to you two to all but confirm some really profound existential theories about this place, though.”

“Do tell,” Kuna said as he paused in his sewing work. “I get the feeling you deliberately left things out about this place when you first told us about it.”

“Only because it involved a bunch of speculation,” Zyn said, shrugging. “Plus I wanted to see what you thought first, without any preconceived ideas. Certainly didn’t expect anything remotely like this, though.” He gestured at the increasingly sleepy-looking squirrel in Lykou’s lap. “How did this even happen?”

“There’s a big altar over there,” Kuna said, pointing into the distance through the trees and other ruins that were now cloaked in darkness. “With some kind of spirit signs on it. And there was some strange, glowing… thing sitting on a ring on its edge.”

“Was kind of a fluke that anything happened at all,” Lykou said. “Just a perfect series of mistakes and, uh…” He grinned sheepishly. “Us maybe being a bit reckless… led to somehow activating some weird magic just at the right time for her to fall onto the altar along with the glowing ball thing.”

“Glowing ball, huh?” Zyn asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Odd, I don’t remember seeing anything like that here earlier… I saw the altar, and some of the runes looked a little familiar, but definitely nothing else up there.”

“Would’ve been hard to miss,” Kuna said dubiously. “It was absolutely packed with life and soul essence. Big time.”

“Really? Huh,” Zyn said, furrowing his brow as he contemplated it. “I guess that’d make sense, giving what it did, but there was definitely nothing like that when I visited here before.” He crossed his arms and glanced off into the darkness. “I definitely want to go take another look at that altar. I’d appreciate if at least one of you could come with me to walk me through the events.” He turned back and glanced down at the squirrel that had seemingly dozed off in Lykou’s arms, then smiled up at the canid. “But it can wait until tomorrow. I think the three of you have had enough activity for one day.”

“Oh definitely,” Kuna agreed. “But before you go anywhere, what rumors exactly were you talking about?” He narrowed his eyes quizzically at the felid. “Be honest. Was this place made by spirits? Is… is this where people, in general, came from?”

“No on the first one,” Zyn answered, reclining back with his hands on his head as he looked down into the dancing flames. “As for the second one… that’s a bit more complicated. You did see the murals, right?”

“Yeah. And some… very strangely familiar looking creatures,” Lykou said with a somewhat bewildered look. “Hence the question.”

“Ah. Right. I forgot some of them still roamed around here,” Zyn replied, chuckling. “I can imagine how surreal that felt.”

“No kidding,” Kuna commented. “So? What’s the story?”

“Well, nobody knows exactly who they were, but there were definitely some mortals that lived here a very long time ago. Nobody knows much about them, except maybe some particularly old spirits that aren’t very interested in chatting with anyone,” the jarzin explained. “But they were likely among the first people that ever existed in the mortal world, given how old this place is, and they clearly had a lot of skill with magic. Possibly on par with us jarzin… or surpassing us, even. Judging from the artwork here, and especially now that you’ve basically proven it, it’s likely they had a hand in the creation of some, although not all, of the various kinds of people you find all over the world now.”

“People made people?” Lykou asked incredulously. “And all this time we were both convinced the spirits had more of a role in that…”

“Well, they were, at least to some extent. Whoever these mystery people were probably didn’t create themselves, after all,” Zyn continued. “And we do know they didn’t create all the races that exist. You probably noticed we weren’t on those murals, or the shakonu, and some others you’ve not yet seen. I don’t know all those origins personally, but supposedly some god of mist and light made us, and the shakonu were… well, kind of a controversial one.”

“Controversial?” Kuna asked. “How so?”

“A pair of squabbling gods supposedly settled their differences after centuries of fighting over some metaphysical nonsense, and they marked their truce by fusing two kinds of animals into one kind of people, meant to symbolize their cooperation and a newfound peace and prosperity within their domain,” Zyn said, then shrugged. “Or something like that. You’d have to ask a shakonu shaman for the specifics. They’re one of the few groups of people of the world with a clear understanding of their origins. Some of their elder mystics regularly commune with those gods.”

“Wow,” Kuna said, wide-eyed. “That’s… pretty wild.”

“No kidding!” Lykou agreed. “I had no idea spirits could get that, uh…”

“Personal? Sentimental? Petty?” Zyn suggesting, grinning. “Believe me, spirits can be a lot like people at times.”

“That’s good to know,” Lykou commented. “Although I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising after, uh… Sulyr.” He blushed a bit as he recalled his encounter with the rima.

Zyn snorted and snickered. “Oh he’s a special outlier, believe me.”

“So the people that made these ruins made other people,” Kuna said thoughtfully. “Any ideas as to why?”

“Nope. The reasons, like everything else about them, are a mystery,” Zyn said. “Nobody knows what they even looked like. And nobody knows what happened to them, either. By all accounts, they were here, then just vanished. Nobody’s seen any skeletons or anything. As you can see, other than their art, some ritual areas, and some odd buildings, they didn’t really leave anything of themselves behind.”

Kuna flinched as he felt something tiny fall on his head. He blinked and glanced up at the sky. A moment later, he felt another. One or two pop-hiss sounds emitted from the fire. Raindrops. He sighed. “Well, looks like the rain’s finally moving in. Guess we might as well head inside,” he said, then glanced down at the sewing project in his lap. “I’ll see how much more of this I can finish in the dim light.”

“S’fine,” Gleam suddenly murmured with one eye peeked open slightly, glancing over at the sereva’s lap. “Justa’nest.”

“Oh hey, thought you were asleep,” Lykou said softly, giving her a gentle squeeze.

“Mm… sorta,” she murmured, then yawned and stretched a little. “Just… not all the way I guess.” She started to get up, and the others quickly followed suit.

Kuna summoned up his magic and awkwardly shifted the bundle in his arms as a few more raindrops pelted him at intermittent intervals, but Zyn stopped him.

“Let me take care of it,” the jarzin said, then returned the flora by the fire to normal. He then reshaped some more of the plantlife hanging off the roof into an actual, organic door over the entrance. “Anything else I can help with?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kuna said with a smirk, nudging him lightly. “You can stop showing off. We forgive you already, big guy.”

Zyn grinned. “If you insist. I’ll see you guys in the morning, alright?”

Kuna nodded. “See you then.”

“G’night, Zyn,” Lykou said.

“Where’s ‘e goin’?” Gleam said sleepily, rubbing her eye.

The jarzin chuckled. “Places you guys can’t reach, unfortunately. Don’t worry though. Like I said, I’ll see you in the morning and we can chat more then. I know you’re full of questions, and frankly I’ve got some of my own, but they can wait until then,” he said, then reached over and tussled the squirrel’s hair lightly, making her instinctively flinch at first. “Get yourself some sleep, Gleam. It was very nice meeting you… even if it started off all wrong. Sorry again about scaring you so bad.”

“Mm, s’fine,” she mumbled, managing a weak, sleepy smile. Then she yawned and stumbled slightly as she started heading for the building. “Seeya ‘n’ th’ m’rnin’…”

Lykou and Kuna shared a look, then the konuul smirked and walked up behind her. “Hold still, you. Let me carry you,” he said, then scooped her up into his arms gently with a light grunt. She let out a surprise squeak and momentarily tensed up. Fortunately, the fatigue even weakened her instincts, so she settled back down quickly enough. “Don’t need you tripping and getting more bruises right after Zyn fixed the ones you had.”

Gleam blushed and clung to her tail. “Oh, uh… th-thanks…”

Kuna smiled and nodded to Zyn on the way towards the organic door. The jarzin held it open for them, waved, then vanished in a quiet puff of dark mist as they stepped inside the building. Once inside, Kuna set up the new sleeping mat in one corner, on one of the flat raised parts of the floor, as well as a hastily put-together makeshift pillow of sorts. It might have technically not been entirely finished yet, but he figured it was good enough for the night. Their new companion was clearly more than ready for it, so Lykou set her down on top of it. They each brought in the rest of their things while she made herself comfortable, as well as some of the extra firewood so that it’d still be dry in the morning. Kuna laid the spare cloak across Gleam, then rubbed her head gently as she was starting to doze off. “G’night Gleam. Sleep well.”

Lykou did likewise. “Sweet dreams, Gleam.”

“G’night,” the sleepy squirrel murmured, then yawned and closed her eyes. Within moments, she was sound asleep. She’d curled up somewhat, not unlike how she probably slept as a feral creature, and hugged her tail as she slept.

Once everything was settled, Lykou and Kuna settled down on their own sleeping space nearby. Though they were tired, they weren’t quite ready for sleep yet, so they opted to stay up and listen to the sound of the rain as it began to pick up outside. With nothing else to work on and Gleam resting quietly in her new bed for the night, Kuna grinned at the canid in the dark room and crawled into his arms. Lykou smiled and curled his tail around the sereva as they made up for lost cuddletime and chatted quietly with one another.

“Long day, but it feels pretty peaceful now,” Kuna commented. “Rain sounds nice when you’re safely tucked away inside a building.”

“Mhmm. Sure does,” Lykou agreed. He glanced over at Gleam for a moment, then chuckled a little.

“What’s funny?” Kuna asked curiously.

“Oh, just thinking about how weird the day’s been,” Lykou replied. “Like when you made that comment about squirrels being cute, and I was just being annoyed at the food snatching. And what a crazy turn it took from there.”

Kuna snickered softly. “Does kind of feel different now, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Surreal, even,” the canid replied. “She is still cute though. Maybe moreso in a way. I feel this weird need to protect her.”

Kuna looked at the faint silhouette of Gleam sleeping peacefully and nodded, smiling. “Yeah, me too. Just something about her,” he said, then sighed. “More than just because its our fault she’s in this mess.”

“Honestly, is it even a case of ‘fault’?” Lykou pondered quietly. “I know it’s been a rough first day, but… in a way, I kind of feel like it’s a positive thing, you know?”

“We gave a poor squirrel an existential crisis,” Kuna commented flatly. “Now she’s got anxiety and stress. Not sure I’d be too thankful for that.”

“Well yeah, but life’s not all bad stuff,” the canid pointed out. “She’ll also get to experience things now that she never could before. Learning things about the world and herself, making things, developing hobbies and interests, making friends…” He paused and glanced down at the sereva in his lap for a moment, glad that he couldn’t see his eyes or the faint blush on his face as he continued. “...maybe even falling in love, you know?”

Kuna blushed as well, equally grateful the canid couldn’t see his face either. “Heh, y-yeah. Fair point,” he said, smiling contently as he absent-mindedly stroked the konuul’s arm. “Although I worry how people might treat her, being so… you know, different.”

“Hey, different isn’t automatically bad. We’re pretty different from most of the people we’ve met on this journey, and most of them have been pretty friendly, overall. Even if the shakonu were hostile at first, we ended up being friends in the end,” Lykou reminded him. “And besides, we’ll be there to make sure people treat her right.”

Kuna smiled and nodded subtly. “Damn right.”

The conversation fell into a lull for a minute. Then Lykou let out a brief chuckle again. “You know, I think I just figured out what it is.”

“Hmm?”

“I guess this must be kind of what it feels like to have a little sister,” Lykou explained. “Kezh was always really protective of me, too. And always trying to teach me things.” He snickered. “Maybe a bit overzealous when it came to hunting and other dangerous activities, of course. Much to mom and dad’s chagrin.”

“Really?” Kuna replied with a dubious look. “But she’s… well, she at least looks close to our age.”

“Yeah but she’s all innocent and curious, but timid. She’s got so much to learn, and she’s gonna need people to look after her for a while,” Lykou said, then shrugged. “Didn’t say it made perfect sense, but that’s the feeling I get.”

“Huh,” the sereva said, then thought for a moment. “I… never really thought about what it’d be like to have siblings. People you’re related to, but closer to your own age…”

“Plenty of squabbling, don’t get me wrong,” Lykou said, smirking. “Comes with the territory. But I think the good times definitely far outweigh the bad. Kezh is probably a big part of the reason I’ve been able to survive on this trip in the first place. Probably could have never even become a chaser if it wasn’t for her teaching me to live off the land and face my fears head on. Mom and dad did too, of course, but she was extra enthusiastic about it.”

“Sounds nice,” Kuna commented, then sighed heavily as sad thoughts started creeping in.

Lykou took note of the mood shift, and squeezed the sereva gently. “You know, Ku… with how you’ve been with Gleam today, I think you’d have been a great big brother.”

“Hm? Me?” Kuna retorted, smirking. “Come on. I’m not a people person, you know that.”

“I’m serious. You’ve been very patient with her and supportive of her,” Lykou persisted. “You wanted to rush over and check on her from the minute she fell off that altar, without even knowing if she’d be dangerous. You’ve thrown yourself into looking after her since we met her. And not shy about teaching her things and answering her questions.”

Kuna blushed and folded his ears down, smiling bashfully. “Just trying to be nice, that’s all…” He rallied after a moment and poked the canid’s arm. “And anyway, same goes for you. Even if she was scared of the ‘big predator’ at first, she’s warmed right up to you, y’know.”

The canid smirked and booped the sereva’s nose lightly. “Yeah but I’m talking about you right now. Heck, even when she was just a wild critter, you were kind to her,” the canid continued. “And then there was how you sang to her when she was terrified out of her mind earlier. Kuna, you’d be an amazing big brother.”

The sereva fidgeted a bit, feeling a little overwhelmed with warm fuzzies. “Eesh, c’mon. Was just trying to help her,” he replied, then hesitated for a moment as he processed things. “...you really think so?”

“Absolutely, Ku,” Lykou said, squeezing him again. “You’ve got a real big heart, you know that?”

After a moment of silence, Kuna rolled onto his side so that he could wrap his arms around the canid in return, still blushing a bit. “S’only cus I’ve had you to inspire it, ya fluffball.”

Lykou chuckled again, then sighed contently and rubbed Kuna’s head. “Nah, I just helped you find what was in there all along. And Ku?”

“Yeah?”

“Even though I never met them, I know your parents would be so, so proud of you,” Lykou said, smiling down at the sereva in his arms.

Kuna’s eyes teared up a bit at that. He buried his head in the canid’s neck fur and held him as tight as he could in his arms, sniffling a bit and smiling as he was momentarily overwhelmed with emotion. “...thanks, Kou,” he murmured softly. “I sure hope so...”