Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 7: Downtime

Chapter 15

Who’s in the mood for some awkward conversations?? Also, I recently learned that squirrels sometimes eat bugs.

-Llox

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Immediately, the konuul tensed up. “Uh…”

Gleam leaned over towards him a little, trying to look him in the eye. “Like you keep pointing out, I may be ig… ig…” She paused for a moment to try and remember the word. Fortunately, it came to her just as the canid was about to interject. “Ig-nore-ant, but I’m not dumb. You and Kuna keep trying to avoid a certain subject around me.”

“Uhhhehehe, yyyeah,” Lykou replied with a nervous grin, suddenly wishing the sereva was still present. “We, uh, just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, when you’re, y’know… s-still dealing with-”

“Lykou,” the squirrel continued with a flat look. “You and I both know we can’t avoid the subject forever while we’re on this journey thing.”

Lykou looked around anxiously, trying to think of anything to divert the conversation away to. But he realized there was no more avoiding it, and sighed heavily. He couldn’t look her in the eye, though, and glanced away. “I… guess you have a point…”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Gleam slid up close to him and wrapped her arms around her knees as she tried to work up the nerve to ask the question they both knew was coming. “...you know what I have to ask.”

Lykou shot her a brief sideways glance, then looked back down at the ground as he idly fiddled with a pebble next to him. “...probably,” he replied quietly, dreading it.

Another silence. Gleam sighed. “So?” she asked, looking over at him with an arched brow. “You ever eat squirrels?”

Even though he had started to see it coming, the question still made Lykou flinch. “...yes,” he said in a near-whisper. Eating meat was just a fact of life for him. And while he didn’t like having to kill things to survive, he hadn’t suffered any guilt or second-guessed himself about it years. Initially, it bothered him a bit when he found out where his food came from as a pup. But after some conversations with several people about the facts of nature, particularly his mother, he came to accept it as part of the natural order over time. But Gleam’s arrival had certainly shaken him a bit more than he let on, and their whole visit to the valley as a whole certainly had him re-examining things.

There was another, even longer silence. The canid took a slow, slightly shuddery breath, still unable to face her. “I-”

“Huh. I… thought I’d be more freaked out about that,” Gleam quietly commented.

Lykou looked up at her in surprise. “O-oh?”

The squirrel just stared straight ahead with an uncertain look for a moment. “...yeah,” she said, then glanced over at him. “Oh don’t get me wrong, I still kind of am, obviously.”

“R-right,” the canid replied, deflating again. “M-makes sense.”

After another awkward pause, she leaned over a bit and lightly bumped him. “Like I said though, not as much as I expected,” she said. “I think I kind of… knew, somehow.” She sighed and looked up in the trees, spotting a few feral squirrels darting among the branches. “Thing is… the way I look at it, I’m not what I was any more. Those things are squirrels. That’s what you hunted. Not me. I’m something else now.”

Lykou’s gaze flicked between her and the ground as he silently processed things. He wanted to say something, but couldn’t come up with any words, so instead he just let her continue talking without responding.

“Not like I can just sit here and say, ‘oh, you terrible killer, you killed my family!’ or something,” Gleam continued with a faint, sardonic smirk. “I’m sure my parents were long gone before you showed up around here, and if I have any siblings alive out there somewhere, I wouldn’t even know about it.”

Lykou frowned a bit more. “That’s kind of sad, actually…”

Gleam shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t know any different. The whole idea of those kinds of attachments is new to me. And I mean,” she said, then paused and bumped him again with a small grin. “No reason that can’t change now, right, big brother?”

The konuul gawked at her for a moment, then slowly grinned and prodded her side lightly. “You little rascal! You were faking-?”

“A little,” the squirrel replied, giggling. “Kinda in and out of sleep, but I guess I picked up a little on the important part.” She blushed and hugged him. “Anyway, point is, I know you’re a predator, Lykou. You gotta do what ya gotta do to survive. And, seeing as how you’ve been every bit as sweet and kind as Kuna said you were yesterday, I don’t want to hold that against you.” She paused and glanced away for a moment. “Eeeeven if it’s a bit weird to think about much.”

Lykou smiled back and returned the hug. “Hey, for the record, I don’t even particularly like hunting, especially not little things like that. And I always try to make kills as quick and painless as I can. No squirrel ever suffered because of me, I can promise you that much.”

“I’m not surprised,” Gleam replied, flicking her tail a bit, then bumped her head against his affectionately. She then tensed up a little and shot him an awkward look. “Just… mmmaybe don’t eat any squirrels with me around?”

Lykou made a face and shook his head. “Gleam, after meeting you, I don’t know if I can ever eat squirrel again. It just wouldn’t feel right at this point.”

Gleam arched a brow and smirked. “Boy, it’d really suck for you if that magic happened to every other kind of animal in this forest, huh?”

The canid shuddered slightly. “Yeah, this place is definitely raising some very big questions and thoughts about the world,” he said. After a moment, though, he smiled back at her again. “But like I said, you don’t have to worry. No more squirrel for me. Honestly I prefer bigger prey anyway. Easier to, uh… work with. And more meat.”

“Yeah? Anything in particular?” Gleam asked curiously.

“Er. Well, back home, we have these real big birds called turkeys… kind of similar to those big fat colorful ones you see in some areas around here, especially near the water or berry bushes,” Lykou explained. “Turkey’s… kind of my favorite, honestly.”

“Oh yeah, those big jerks. I vaguely remember them liking to chase me away from those bushes,” Gleam replied with a brief narrow-eyed frown, though she quickly smirked again a moment later. “Forest could use a few less of ‘em. Now that I’m big, maybe I can chase them off for once.”

“Really? Huh,” Lykou replied, somewhat amused, but mostly surprised. “I uh… didn’t expect you to take all this so lightly…”

Gleam shrugged. “It’s just part of nature. Some creatures eat other creatures, it happens,” she said, then grinned and glanced around conspiratorially, before leaning up to the canid. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t snacked on a few myself.”

Lykou shot her a wide-eyed look of disbelief. “...huh??”

“Yeah, I mean, not much, just the occasional beetle or something like that,” the squirrel said. “Especially when nuts and berries are a bit harder to get.”

“BEETLES?? You eat bugs?!” Lykou blurted out in surprise, then gagged and made a face. “Yeuck!”

Gleam furrowed her brow and bristled. “Uh, yeah?? What, you don’t like ‘em? I know they’re small, but-”

“They’re gross!” Lykou said, laughing a bit even as he was still cringing at the thought. “Those are what you try to keep away from food!”

“Hey, I was being nice and not judging you!” the squirrel said indignantly. “Mister squirrel muncher!”

“S-sorry, sorry, you’re right, I just… really?? Beetles??” Lykou replied incredulously. “I guess as long as you’re keeping ‘em away from our other food…”

The squirrel stuck her tongue out at him, then crossed her arms, pouting. “Bet you haven’t even tried ‘em.”

“Don’t plan to, either,” Lykou insisted, chuckling a bit more. After a moment, he sighed and wrapped an arm around her. “Sorry Gleam, that just… really took me by surprise.”

“Jerk,” Gleam retorted, albeit with a faint smirk. “What, you haven’t met any other people that eat bugs?”

“Can’t say we have. Er. Although, actually,” Lykou replied, then paused to think for a moment. “Now that I think of it, there were those kinda bug-like water things the raptuva ate. And I actually did have a couple of those, and they weren’t bad, once you uh… got past all the, ugh, outer stuff.”

“Aha! See, bugs can be good!” Gleam declared triumphantly.

“Hey, they weren’t like anything you see on land. They looked pretty different and were a fair bit bigger than most bugs I’ve seen in the woods,” Lykou replied. “And not exactly something I’d seek out on my own again, anyway.”

“Water bugs, huh? I didn’t know there were such things,” Gleam said. “Other than those weird things that skitter around on top of ponds and stuff sometimes. But I’m pretty sure you don’t mean those, right?”

“Nonono, these things live down in the water. In the sea, even, not lakes and rivers, apparently,” Lykou explained, then grinned. “And before you ask, the sea is this huge thing full of salty water. Also called the ocean. We only just recently found out about it ourselves. It’s… really something.”

“Salty… water?” Gleam asked dubiously. “Weird. How big, exactly? My memory from before might be fuzzy as fuck, but I think I’d remember seeing something like that if it was anywhere near here.”

“Oh I don’t think it is. But believe me, it’s huge. When you’re on one of those islands, you’re surrounded by it, and you can go up to the tops of one of the mountains and look out in any direction and not see the end of it,” Lykou said. “I can’t imagine how long it’d take to get to the edge. It’s a good thing we have those magic portals to travel through.”

Gleam smirked. “More magic? What are portals?”

“Oh right, didn’t get to that part yet,” Lykou commented, lounging back again with a grin. “Well, how about I continue the story now? Uh, unless you had anything else you wanted to talk about?”

The squirrel flopped back next to him and snuggled up some with a grin. “Nah. Awkward subject taken care of. Thanks for talking about it, though.”

“Of course,” Lykou said, wrapping an arm around her lightly. “And hey, sorry again for the bug thing. Just… really took me by surprise.”

Gleam giggled. “It’s fine. Not like I eat ‘em that much anyway. I prefer other things. And who knows what else I’ll like. Never would’ve come across those things Kuna showed me, uh…”

“Carrots?”

“Yeah, those. Never would’ve found them on my own, but they’re pretty good,” Gleam continued. “So I have to wonder what else is out there that’s tasty.”

“There’s a lot out there, yeah,” Lykou agreed. “Just be careful. You never know what might be dangerous. Though Ku seems to have a knack for finding the safe things, at least.”

“Maybe something to do with his magic?” Gleam suggested.

“I dunno. Maybe,” Lykou said with a shrug. “Though he was pretty good at it before he started learning that stuff.”

“Huh. Well, either way, I hope he can teach me a bit more,” Gleam said, then sighed. “Because I don’t think nuts and berries and seeds are going to be enough for me anymore.” She shot him a quick smirk. “And bugs.”

Lykou made a face, then tussled her hair a bit. “Hey, there’s plenty of other fruit. You like those apples, don’t ya? We’ll probably grab a bunch more of those before we continue on the journey.”

“Sure. Just… takes more than one now I guess,” she replied with a sheepish grin. “You were right. Bigger me, bigger appetite”

“Figured as much. Speaking of which,” Lykou said, then chuckled a little. He glanced over at Kuna’s food bag, then plucked another apple out and handed it to her. “Have another. I see you finished the ones you had.”

Gleam eyed the fruit for a moment, then snatched it up with a little grin. “Thanks.”

“Of course. Gotta have snacks for story time,” Lykou said, chuckling a bit. “Now let’s see, after the shakonu…”

*****

“So you just happened to be doing something kinda dumb at the right time and place, it sounds like,” Zyn commented with a smirk as he and Kuna stood on either side of the altar. “And she just contributed the last little bump to make things happen.”

Kuna smiled sheepishly and rubbed his neck. “Yeahhh, I guess we were getting a bit over-curious. I had just realized how dumb it was and we were about to step away when she startled us.”

“Hey, I can’t judge you too much. If anything, your curiosity’s admirable, as far as I’m concerned,” Zyn assured him. “The world just has a funny way of rewarding it sometimes.” He looked over the altar some more, then ran a hand over the silver ring around it, particularly one of the divots that previously held the glowing orb. “I just wonder where that ball of essence came from. It definitely wasn’t here when I passed through ahead of you guys before.”

“And it’d be pretty hard to miss, even without mystical senses,” Kuna pointed out. He quirked a brow. “You don’t suppose Ink did something…?”

“I… don’t know. She hasn’t said anything to me that would suggest it. I’ll make sure to ask about it when I see her again, though,” the jarzin said. “So… when Gleam became like she is now, how did she react at first?”

“Uh, terrified and confused, obviously,” Kuna answered. “She freaked out at the sight of us and tried to run off, but ended up banging herself up pretty bad in the process.”

“Right, that’s to be expected. But was there anything else?” Zyn asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Any… odd behaviors that wouldn’t so easily be explained by disorientation and surprise?”

“Not that I can think of?” Kuna replied. “I mean… she kept clutching her head and had a habit of talking in quick bursts at times, once we got her to talk at all. But I figured that was just lingering effects of the transformation or something. Not like we’ve ever seen anything remotely like this to compare to, so I figured it was normal.”

“Hmm… maybe. It’s new even to me. Never heard of something on this profound a scale before,” Zyn said. “But I have a hunch.”

“Oh really?”

Zyn looked around the altar, then pointed to a few key points where there were some tiny symbols arranged at regular intervals near the edges. “I have a feeling this place was meant to be used by more than just two people- probably with some special preparations, too. We could be looking at a flawed or incomplete ritual here.”

Kuna stared at him wide-eyed. “W-what does that mean?” he asked, then grew more concerned. “She’s gonna be alright, isn’t she?”

“I wish I could say, Kuna,” Zyn said, crossing his arms with a sigh. “Unfortunately, I’d just be guessing. I’m as in the dark about this as you are. But you said it sucked the energy right out of your translation medallions, right?”

Kuna nodded. “Yeah. We didn’t realize it until this morning, though. But that’s gotta mean something, right?”

“Quite possibly. I think your theory is probably dead on. It must have pieced together her… ‘starter knowledge’ from the two of you,” Zyn continued, pacing around the altar. “If I had to guess, the full ritual probably was meant to use something like that, but more of them and more potent.”

“Oh fuck, I hope she’ll be alright,” the sereva fretted.

Zyn took a deep breath and shot him a reassuring smile. “I think the odds are in her favor, at least. If there were to be any more problems, we likely would have seen them by now. If anything, this just explains the gaps in her knowledge, and maybe her more feral moments. Those instincts are intense.”

“Hey, everyone has to overcome some instincts growing up,” Kuna said, then shot him a dry look. “Unless you’re an ultra-powerful magic-user-from-birth, I mean. She just needs time to play catch-up.”

The jarzin chuckled a bit. “Be that as it may, hers are more potent than normal. She definitely still has a little bit of a wild streak in her. So just… keep a close eye on her. Make sure to make note of anything strange and talk to her about it. Remember last night, after all.”

Kuna frowned. “Yeah… poor thing. I’m just glad I was able to calm her down.”

“So am I. You’ve got a real knack for that, Kuna,” Zyn said. “You’re a pretty damn talented individual, you know.”

“Oh come on, not you too,” Kuna retorted, grinning sheepishly and blushing as he looked away.

Zyn narrowed his eyes and smirked at the sereva. “I’d point out that I’m just observing obvious facts and that you should just take the compliment already, but I don’t need my soul sight up to know you just love the attention anyway. Especially when it comes from a certain konuul crush of yours.”

“H-hey!” Kuna tensed up and blushed brightly, then glared at the jarzin. “Sh-shut up! How-”

“You seem to be forgetting that I have seen your soul on multiple occasions,” the jarzin pointed out, briefly conjuring up soul sight to drive the point home. He chuckled as he dismissed it a moment later. “Although you make it pretty obvious anyway.”

“I… I do?” the sereva asked in a squeaky tone, his annoyance quickly melting to nervousness. “H-how obvious?”

“Laughably, at times,” Zyn pointed out. “Only reason Lykou probably hasn’t picked up on it is the fact that he’s got plenty on his own mind already.”

“Ugh, what specifically though?” Kuna whined. “I don’t want to give it away! What am I doing that makes it so obvious??”

“Just the way you look at him, act around him, and so on. Why are you so worried about it?” the jarzin asked. “You should just come out and tell him already.”

“N… n-not until we get to Lakefire,” Kuna said, then sighed and looked away, crossing his arms anxiously. “Last thing I want is to make things awkward between us…”

“Kuna. Come on. This is Lykou we’re talking about here,” Zyn said, leaning down and propping his head up on the altar with his arm. “It’s not like he’d ever abandon you or anything. You know that as well as I do. Worst case scenario, sure, it’s a bit awkward for a bit. But you’ll still be besties and he’ll still have your back just like you’ve got his. So don’t use that as an excuse.”

Kuna hung his head and fiddled with his walking stick absent-mindedly. He found himself wishing he had a long, fluffy tail like a konuul again, to play with while he thought. “...m’scrd.”

Zyn tilted his head a bit. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I’m scared, alright??” Kuna blurted out, then sighed heavily. “I’m scared, thinking of all the ways it might make things worse, however irrational they are. But honestly, even the mildest ones…” He paused and took another deep breath, then glanced off in the general direction of their camp. “I… I think it’s more than just a crush, Zyn. Admittedly I don’t have a lot of experience to go off of. But… I fucking love that guy. He means more to me than I could begin to describe. And the idea of risking what we’ve already got is more terrifying than anything else we’ve come across.”

Zyn eyed him for a moment, then sighed and smiled softly. “Yeah. The heart’s funny that way. But you’ll only end up regretting it if you never take the chance. Trust me, you should talk to him about it. Even if it doesn’t work out the way you hope, he’ll probably be flattered, and you won’t have to worry about hiding things anymore.”

Kuna stared back at him for a moment, then folded his ears back a bit and smiled faintly as well, staring down at the altar. “F-fine, I’ll… think about it,” he said, then shook his head and rallied a bit. “But n-now’s really not the time. How the heck did we even get on this subject? We came here to talk about this crazy magic, and Gleam, for crying out loud!”

Zyn snickered and straightened back up. “Fair point. Not sure what else we can discuss about it right now though. I’m going to need to go ask some people about this stuff and see what else I can figure out.”

Kuna narrowed his eyes and arched a brow dubiously. “And, by people, do you mean…”

“Yes, Kuna, that includes Inkari,” Zyn said with a smirk. “I’m due to check back in with her anyway.”

“How often do you talk to her anyway? And has she said much about us?” Kuna asked.

“At least once every few days, but she doesn’t say much, no,” Zyn said. “I just tell her where you guys are and how you’re doing, and that seems to satisfy her. No idea what she does between our meet-ups though.”

Kuna smirked. “I think I know, at least lately.”

Zyn shot him a dubious look. “Oh? How’s that?”

“You remember Aelana and Daisy?” the sereva asked.

“The secret Sylthean queen of Clovaria? Er, both her halves, that is,” Zyn replied with an envious, mildly annoyed look. “Still weird to think about. But yeah, obviously. I remember how you two managed to not only meet, but befriend them. What about them?”

“I won’t go into details out of respect for them,” Kuna explained. “But I know Inkari’s been visiting them herself. They… have a complicated relationship with her.”

Zyn’s jaw hung open for a moment in disbelief. “…say WHAT.”

Kuna snickered, glad to have the upper hand for once. “Mhmm. You heard me. And believe me, Lana and Daisy have given her a piece of their mind about sending Lykou and I on this trip.”

“...wait, how would you even know that??” Zyn asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “It’s been a couple weeks since you were in Clovaria!”

“Oh, right, I guess we never showed you, did we?” Kuna said, then dug around in the pocket of his robe. A moment later, he pulled out a certain small, crystalline sphere. “They gave Lykou and I each one of these astral charms. Every once in a while, one of us visits them in our dreams so we can catch up and talk.”

Zyn stared at him flatly for a moment. “Words really fail to express how lucky you two are, and how jealous I am,” he said, then teleported over beside the sereva to get a closer look at the object. “Mind if I see it?”

Kuna flinched, but he’d gotten used to the jarzin’s antics by that point, so he managed to keep from being too startled. He just shot him a look, then shrugged and handed the charm over. “Sure.”

“Thanks,” Zyn said, then began looking it over in his hands, occasionally holding it up to the light and looking at it with various magical sights. Finally, he grinned and handed it back. “Man, Syltheans sure make some neat charms. You know, you should practice with your soul magic more. And experiment. Once you figure certain things out, that would make a pretty good focus for certain rituals and spells.”

“Oh?” Kuna asked, looking the charm over again for himself. “What do you mean?”

“Well, once you figure out how, you could possibly use that to scry on them, maybe even talk to them more directly without being in the astral realm, and so on,” Zyn explained. “Heck, give them permission and they might even check in on you sometime through the same link.”

“Wow, really?” the sereva asked, wide-eyed. “How… do I do that, though? The, uh, ‘scrying’ thing?”

“Well, that’s the tricky bit. Different aspects of soul magic can be tricky to teach, so you kind of just have to figure it out on your own through experimentation and meditation,” Zyn said, then glanced around the ruins. “Luckily, this place is pretty good for that.”

“That’s true. And I don’t think we’ll be leaving today, so maybe I’ll do that tonight,” Kuna said, putting the charm back in his pocket with a grin. “I guess I have been neglecting practicing that stuff lately. I just use the life magic so much more often. And it’d be nice to spend some time just meditating. What exactly is ‘scrying’ anyway?”

“Basically it lets you look at someone and their surroundings from far away. Like looking through a hole in a wall, except the wall is the world itself, and you’re taking a peek through the idea of distance,” Zyn explained. Upon seeing the baffled look on the sereva’s face, he chuckled again. “Told you it can be tricky to explain. That’s just soul magic for you. Scrying, projection, soul sight… just kind of have to figure a lot of it out as you go.”

“Noted,” Kuna said, scratching his head. “Well, I guess we better get back. Gleam and I need to collect a bit more food and sewing materials so we can prepare for heading out tomorrow. How far is it to the next arch?”

“The next gate’s probably one or two days’ hike from here, at least. Especially given, well… Gleam’s jumpiness,” Zyn said.

“Yeahhh, poor thing,” Kuna said as they started down the stairs together. “I wish I could help her with those impulses.”

“Just being with you two is probably the best help she could ask for,” Zyn pointed out. “I’m glad you’re letting her join you.”

“Of course! Not like we would ever consider leaving her here by herself,” Kuna quickly replied, then frowned. “I know how much it sucks being in that kind of situation… can only imagine how much harder it’d be in her case.”

Zyn wrapped an arm around him. “You know, one day I need to look up that ex-tribe of yours and really fuck with them.”

Kuna smirked and returned the embrace. “Oh no, don’t abuse your power on my behalf, Zyn,” he said with feigned concern. “I’m sure that’s breaking some rules! Wouldn’t want to get in trouble, would you?”

“Some rules are meant to be broken in the right circumstances. And they’ve got it coming,” the jarzin retorted. “I’ll just have to pick some good ways to scare the crap out of them. From the sound of things, they’re already a paranoid, delusional bunch. Should be easy.”

“Hah. Just pose as my vengeful ghost come to haunt and curse them from beyond the grave,” Kuna suggested as they made their way back through the ruins.

“Oh, that’s morbid, Kuna,” Zyn replied. “I like it. Bit of poetic justice there.”

Kuna snickered and shrugged. “Honestly, I just want to forget about those assholes now. But by all means, have fun with it.” He paused for a moment. “...by the way, I know it’d get confusing around both of us, but at least as far as I’m concerned, feel free to just call me Ku if you want.”

Zyn smiled and squeezed him gently. “Sure thing, Ku. And who’s to say I won’t enjoy a bit of chaos? You and Kou will never again know which of you I’m talking to!”

The sereva rolled his eyes, then nudged him playfully. “Why am I not surprised, Shal?”

“Ooh. Nono. Don’t like that,” Zyn replied. “Point taken.”

Kuna snickered. “I’m just kidding, it’s fine. We’ll probably have to get used to it eventually anyway.”

*****

“So yeah, we didn’t get along at all at first, but we warmed up to each other. Espe-” Lykou said, then stopped when he saw the two round the corner of the building they’d slept in the night before. “Oh hey, funny timing. Welcome back, you two! I was just telling Gleam about when we first met, Zyn.”

“Ah. Yes. A very… flattering story,” Zyn commented with a wry grin. “I’m sure you didn’t embellish a thing.”

“Nah, I’m not you,” Lykou retorted playfully. “Mister ‘grand resplendent something something a dozen silly probably made up titles’.”

The jarzin rolled his eyes a bit. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Alright you two, be nice,” Kuna interjected as he made his way over to the firepit and flopped down next to the konuul. “Don’t make me break out the vines.”

Lykou chuckled. “Just messing around. Anyway, how’d it go at the altar? Learn anything?”

“Nothing definitive,” Zyn said. “But I have a theory.”

“We basically might have accidentally sort-of performed an incomplete or imperfect ritual,” Kuna said. “Which would explain the gaps in Gleam’s knowledge, among other things.”

“Thaaaat sounds… not… good?” Gleam hazarded, clearly struggling a bit to follow the conversation.

“Well, it’s not ideal, but at least for now we don’t know of any reason to worry,” Zyn assured her. “Just whatever you’ve already been dealing with. That said, be sure to make note of any sudden changes you feel or notice, physically or mentally. I’m going to go ask around the spirit world and among the other jarzin, see if anything else comes up.”

“Well, we’ll be with her to help with whatever comes up,” Lykou said, rubbing the squirrel’s back softly. “You know, maybe one of us should talk to Aelana and Daisy again, too.”

Zyn furrowed his brow. “Still can’t believe how lucky you two are to get to know those two.”

“Can’t you, too?” Gleam asked. “With all that… magic traveling stuff you do, I imagine it must not be hard.”

“Unfortunately there are some places us jarzin can’t visit. And Clovaria’s one of them,” Zyn said with a sigh. “The que-, er, Aelana, and I guess Daisy, banished us from there a very long time ago. Old rivalry thing.” He smirked and arched a brow, glancing at Kuna. “Except apparently Inkari’s an exception now, from what Ku told me.”

Lykou turned to the sereva with a surprised look. “Ku, you told him??”

“Just that they have a complicated relationship and she’s apparently been hanging out there,” Kuna quickly confirmed. “That’s all.”

“Really makes me want to know more,” Zyn said, then sighed. “But I don’t want to risk pissing them off, so I won’t pry.”

“I also told him about the astral charms, and he suggested I practice my soul magic more,” Kuna said, rolling said charm around in his hand thoughtfully. “Said it could make for a powerful ‘focus’ for things later on. Sooo… might do some meditating tonight.”

“You know, some day I hope I understand at least half the things you guys are talking about,” Gleam groaned playfully.

Lykou chuckled and pulled her into a side-armed hug. “Don’t worry, some of it still goes over my head, too. Still haven’t quite worked out meditation for myself either.”

“It just basically means clearing your mind of distractions, usually so you can focus on something specific,” Kuna explained with a shrug. “Although it can also just be good for you on its own. Admittedly easier said than done sometimes, but worth practicing.”

“Clearing your mind, huh? Maybe I should give it a try,” Gleam said with a smirk. “Since I have a lot less to clear right now.”

Lykou couldn’t help but snort slightly, though he felt a bit guilty about it. “Hey c’mon, Gleam-”

“I know, I know,” Gleam replied, rolling her eyes slightly, then leaned over against him. “Just making a joke.”

“I’m glad that magic let you understand humor at least,” Zyn commented, chuckling. “Very important part of civilized life, that.”

“I’ll second that,” Lykou agreed. “So do you have any idea how far away the next arch is from here, Zyn? And what the next area will be like?”

“A day or two, just depending on how fast you hike,” Zyn said, shooting a very brief, subtle glance at Gleam. “As for the next area, it seems to be just another fairly standard forest, though I’ve admittedly not looked much. And since I’ll be busy researching things, I won’t be able to scout for you guys as much just yet.”

“Just as well, we need to gather some more supplies first anyway,” Kuna added, shooting Lykou an apologetic look. “I know you’re-”

“Hey, it’s understandable,” Lykou quickly interjected. “It’s important that we’re well-supplied. Better being delayed in a place like this than a few other places we’ve been, anyway.”

“Heh, true,” Kuna said, then shuddered a bit. “Thank fuck we’re out of Kryckwood.”

“No kidding,” Lykou agreed. “And hey, since I’m pretty stocked up, I can help you two with your gathering if you want.”

“Having you both there would probably help my-” Gleam started to say, then yelped and jumped a bit when a bird zipped by a little close to them and knocked a small branch loose when it landed in a nearby tree. “-nerves.”

Lykou gave her a gentle squeeze. “Sounds like a plan, then.”

“Well then, I’ll leave you guys to it,” Zyn said. “Stay safe, I’ll come find you when I can. Don’t know how long I’ll be, but I’ll come back when I have anything new to tell you.”

“See you later, Zyn,” Kuna said. “Thanks again as usual.”

“Yeah, thanks for stopping by,” Lykou agreed.

“Bye Zyn,” Gleam said, giving a little wave. “S-sorry again for freaking out last night.”

“Hey, like I said, my fault not yours,” Zyn assured her. After hesitating for a moment, he walked over and bent down to give her a quick, light hug. “Take care of yourself, miss Gleam. Whatever I find out, I can already say with certainty that you’re a very special individual.” He winked and tussled her hair, then straightened back up. “Later, you three.” With that, he popped his odd little salute, then vanished in a puff of dark mist.

“You were right,” Gleam said after a moment. “He does seem pretty nice once you get used to him.”

“That he is,” Lykou said, then stretched a bit. “Well, shall we get started?”

Kuna took a quick sip from his water jug, which he’d refilled that morning, then nodded and started getting back up. “Sure. I figure the food will be the easiest,” he said, then glanced at the squirrel. “I assume you’re good with lots of apples and nuts?”

“Sounds good to me,” Gleam replied. “But I definitely don’t mind learning how to find new things, too. Like those, uh, carrots.”

“Sure thing,” Kuna replied cheerfully.

Lykou grinned impishly. “We’re not collecting any beetles or anything, though.”

Kuna shot him an odd look. “Say what??”

Gleam pouted. “I wasn’t gonna suggest it! I told you that’s just an occasional thing,” she said, crossing her arms in a huff. “They’d probably crawl back out of the bag anyway…”

Kuna glanced back and forth between them with a bewildered look. “...uh…?”

Lykou snickered, and Gleam couldn’t help but giggle at his expression as well. “We uh… had an interesting conversation after you two walked off,” the canid explained. “Turns out, while she’s mostly like you, she does also eat, well, bugs.”

“Only sometimes!” Gleam emphasized. “I still prefer other things!”

The sereva blanched. “B… bugs??? Really??”

“Oh come on, why do you guys react that way?” Gleam complained. “How’s that worse than…” She suddenly narrowed her eyes and leaned towards Lykou with a playful grin. “Squirrels?”

Kuna gawked at them, then facepalmed. “...yeah, it sounds like I missed quite a conversation alright.”