Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound ✓ [when the moon lies]

Ch.3.2: The Survivors

Edited: Aug, 24, 2020

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Her ears pricked up at the sound of paws squishing mud. She lifted her heavy head to see a sleek, pale blue body coming through the forest with watchful eyes and tentative steps. The female's fur reeked of blood and fish and with her were a few others of the same scent. They came into clan grounds and stood before Pinti.

The one in front wore a blanket over one shoulder and her eyes gleamed in the gloom.

"Ro!" she said in the ancient tongue. "I am Kalis Raviksgar, Shamala of Prendai Clan!" she declared, "Any other survivors here?" She pointed her spear at Pinti.

Too exhausted to speak, Pinti signed with her tail, I'm the only survivor of Makiista.

Frowning, Kalis revealed her glowing Lunar mark. "Only?" she scoffed. "My mark glows in response to a live Shaman or Shamala. If you know child, our marks glow when others' are also glowing nearby. Child of Makiista clan, I seek Yon Segnoshua or his wife, Cerenti."

Pinti hung her head at the sound of her parents' names. The dull end of Kalis' spear flicked away her bangs. Kalis gasped, raising her eyebrows.

"A child Shamala?"

"Child?" A few of the others behind echoed in surprise.

"Unheard of." Kalis bristled. "Are you a younger or an elder?"

"Elder," Pinti said in a soft voice. "Fourteen."

"Feigat. A Shamala-in-training, too!" Kalis growled. "It's probably your fault they're all dead. A young Shamala has responsibility enough. Didn't your father teach you that? But you failed him! You could have, but you didn't." She said with shock in her voice. "You failed his expectations of you." She sniffed. "And your fur reeks of death!"

I failed him? The thought drowned her mind. Was there something she could have done? Or something she could have said? I should have insisted we should help the clan instead of hiding in the basement. I should have pushed harder. Then maybe...

"Be thankful that I pity you." Kalis continued with a blank expression. "We will go to the First Ring where Huamanoas live. Edglings will not come there."

"This is my nephew, Vaiter." Kalis beckoned to a male Kathula not much older than Pinti. Recognition flickered across hers and Vaiter's faces. He was the young Prendai male she used to see poking his head out of the tangleroot barricade.

"I put you in charge of her until we can settle." Kalis flung her blanket off to reveal she had no right arm, but the wound had been healed to perfection, obviously the magick of Edglings.

"You failed your father, child," she said in a low voice and made her way back into the forest. "Follow us."

Pinti stumbled forward on weak legs. Exhausted from crying and being sad, she walked obediently behind Kalis. Along the way, other Kathula survivors battered, bruised, or without a limb or two came staggering out from behind the trees to join them. There were many from Prendai and some from the other two Kathula clans, Yajis and Jurana. Yet, Pinti was the only Makiista.

Vaiter took her paw in his as she stumbled. "What's your name?"

"Pinti," she answered in a quiet voice.

"Oh, rain," Vaiter said in a light tone, but Pinti wasn't in the mood for any of that. Her world had crumbled in an instant and her mind was heavy with sorrow, unable to find even the slightest joy.

"My name means 'the fast swimmer', but I'm a slow swimmer," he went on, but Pinti's mind was still in Makiista Clan's grounds so she couldn't respond. After a while, he gave up talking and just held her paw, guiding her through the forest. When they came to the edge of the border, there was a gaping hole in the tangleroot. Kalis used her spear to slash away more of the barricade.

"One by one, let the elders go first," she ordered. Pinti hesitated at the border. Maybe she snuck out once or twice, but she had never been too far beyond.

"Child!" Kalis barked and stalked over to her, shoving the spear in her face. Pinti winced and cowered behind Vaiter, her instincts of flight kicking in. "You stay here you die," Kalis growled and Vaiter pulled her out from behind.

"Pinti, if you want to live," he said in a stern voice. "Throw the memories away. They hold you back. My parents died at the paws of Edglings. Am I fearful? Am I crying?" He hissed. "No. I move on."

But Pinti didn't want to leave Makiista behind or throw the memories away. She stood hesitating at the exit. She didn't know what to do. Kalis was right. She could have said something more or done something more. It was all her fault. She failed him. Leaving was the only option for survival, but what was the point to survive?

"Leave her, Vaiter. We can't take a wallowing baby along. What if the Edglings return?"

At Kalis' words, Vaiter let go of Pinti's paw and went up to the exit. The fear of being left alone was greater than the fear of going into the unknown or getting killed by Edglings. With a short intake of breath, she hurried to grab his paw and stepped through the barricade with him.

With a sniff of disdain, Kalis led the entourage to the portal of the Third Ring. Pinti's mind turned from emptiness to fear. Not only did the open field scare her or the fact that they were going to another Ring, but also that she would be leaving her home and possibly never return again.

Save Kathula. Her father's voice echoed in her mind. Find the Scepter of Tamido.

But what if I fail you again? I couldn't save the clan. I didn't do enough! Pinti searched the sky for the stars of Makiista. It was said that the ancestors lived up there and those who died would join them. But Pinti could only find a single blue star in the black sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance and a cold wind ruffled her fur.

The blue star is Kathula. She thought. Just like that single blue star, Kathula were only a blue dot amongst a pool of shadows.

And I'm all alone. A single Makiista among a pool of strangers. Her paws trembled at the thought. She wished that someone was alive with her.

Be brave my Poocha. Her father's voice echoed in her mind. Be brave.

How can I be brave? She wondered and glanced at Vaiter. No emotions of his personal ordeals crossed his face and all the while they walked, he never shed a single tear. It was like he didn't feel anything. Maybe she needed to do that. With a shudder, she shoved all negative thoughts and emotions into the depths of her mind and suppressed her memories. Away went the memories with her sister, with Kirlan, and with her father and mother. Away went the memories of Makiista.

Don't feel. She told herself. Don't feel, don't cry. Be brave.

Soon she learned to keep her eyes dry and whenever old memories came, she suppressed them all. Even all the painful memories were shoved to the back of her mind. As days and weeks went by, Pinti kept on a brave face while her heart drowned in shadows.