Broken Symmetry (NTB Book 2) (A Socksfor1 AU)

Further Exploration

(BLAZA POV)

(The Next Day)

Oompa was buried not long after Dusk, Nadwe, Akik, and I returned. We couldn't really have a proper funeral (and Dusk still held a little bit of a grudge against him, even after death), so we just didn't bother. I felt bad about it, but I had to go with it.

I've just been with Akik, trying to help him tolerate the demon and angel doppelgängers in his head. The poor guy's had a really bad headache all day, and I feel like it's getting worse.

He's also been shouting at himself. Which I don't think is good for the headache.

At one point he just sat next to me on his bed and lightly started to bang his head on his knees. I put my arms around him in a hug, and I felt his tail curl around me.

He shouldn't have to go through this. He's been through enough already.

"Maybe we could just... take a walk? To clear your head at least a little?" I suggested.

Akik sighed. "Yeah, sure. Anything to stop these two from arguing."

"What are they even arguing about?" I asked.

"I can't even tell at this point," Akik replied.

"Well, come on. Maybe just walking around will distract you," I said. I stood up, and Akik did as well.

Once we were out of the complex, Akik motioned for me to climb up on his back.

"I wanna show you something," he said. I nodded, and did as he said. When I was comfortable, he flew up to the sky and over the forest.

Soon, Akik flew downwards and landed in the clearing we always go to. For a minute I was confused, for I didn't know what he wanted to show me here. Akik told me to stay put, then walked to the edge of the woods.

Akik knelt down and whistled into the undergrowth. The bushes rustled, and a small creature poked its head out from the sea-blue leaves. I couldn't see it very well from where I stood, but I could tell that it was very fluffy. The small animal walked forwards and pressed its head against Akik's leg. Akik pet the animal, and allowed it to crawl up into his arms.

Akik brought the creature over for me to see. When he got closer, I could more easily see its features. It looked like a small orange tabby cat, but with two sets of ears. Its tail split into two about halfway down, and I noticed a small mouth on its neck, with a snakelike forked tongue seeming to taste the air at random. The creature's pupils were two straight lines that followed each other as the animal looked around.

"What is that?" I asked, curious about the catlike animal.

"This is Charley," Akik said, "He's a split-tailed mountain feralxon."

"Shouldn't he be... Y'know... in the mountains?" I questioned.

"They're a common pet in a lot of places, so I think he must have run off from his owners," Akik replied, "He doesn't have a microchip or a collar, so I didn't know how I'd return him."

(Yes they have microchips and such)

"Huh," I said simply. I put my hand out in front of Charley, and he sniffed it curiously. After a minute, he pressed his head into my hand and let out a kind of purring sound that reminded me of a lion.

Akik chuckled. "I think he likes you."

"I think he does," I said, a bit surprised. Cats never seem to like me.

But of course, Charley's really not a cat.

Charley let out a kind of "rawr" sound, and Akik let him go to the ground. The feralxon looked at me and rolled onto his back, showing his fluffy belly. I knelt down and rubbed his belly, and Charley purred loudly.

Suddenly, his tongue shot out of his neck mouth and wrapped around my arm. I shrieked in surprise, and backed away, shaking my hand. Akik burst out laughing.

"He's just playing!" Akik said, still laughing. Charley mrowed in amusement, and rubbed against my legs.

I chuckled. Okay, my reaction was pretty funny when I thought about it.

Soon after, Charley decided to bolt off into the woods without any warning.

"He does that," Akik said, "It's just a habit of his."

"I like him," I said, "Maybe, since he really doesn't have an owner, we could bring him back to Earth with us when we leave?"

Akik sighed. "I'm just afraid he'll get some Earth disease he's not immune to."

"Maybe Meme could get him vaccinated," I suggested, "I'm sure he does that."

"Well, there's also the chance Meme might not make it back to Earth with the crystal infection still inside of him."

"Oh. I forgot about that."

We stood there in silence for a moment. I looked over on the horizon, where a cliff hung over the crystal-like ocean. Wronix was setting, casting a cyan to purple light over the water. I had never actually seen Wronix setting, and I wondered why I had never noticed before. I guess with all the other moons it was a bit confusing.

Akik motioned for me to follow him to the cliff, where we both sat down not far from the edge. I laid my head on his chest, and he wrapped his tail around me as we watched Wronix lower below the horizon.

A chill broke the air, and I shivered a little bit. I curled up closer to Akik, and he wrapped his angel wing around me.

I had never before noticed how soft his angel wing was. You know how you imagine clouds feeling like as a little kid? That's basically what it felt like. I hugged his wing closer and buried myself in its feathered fluff. Akik didn't seem to mind.

After a while I started to feel drowsy, and I had trouble keeping my eyes open. Akik seemed to notice, and shifted my position to cradle me in his arms.

The final thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep was the wind in my face as Akik carried me back to the complex.

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Hehehehehe
(Translation: I've been reading WMAU and am in a Blakik/Blazafor1 mood now)

C H A R L E Y

1050 words