Aramora

Chapter 15: Kept in the Dark

Amazing cover image made by Shreya_VA <3

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Feeling the sun shining down against her closed eyelids which leave her feeling more than slight irritation that the morning had the nerve to intrude on her content slumber, Nesosa grumbles as she rolls over on her side. As she moves, her legs stretch out and remind her of the curse put on her by the mysterious Tus'Felnis who attacked them. The itching resurfaces, making today a day where she wakes up wanting nothing more than to kill the next thing to disrupt her sleep.

"Morning, Nes! How's your arse?"

The centaur growls and squints her eyes open against the morning light to glare at the elf wearing a snarky grin across his face. Lavern is perched atop a low branch of the tree they were tied to with his bow on his back.

Looking around, Nesosa sees that there are two more bedrolls laid out and Naomi is passed out in one, while Malachi is sitting in the other with his notebook in his hands and his eyes glued to the page as his pen dances across the paper, writing down some new entry and acting like he doesn't look like a bubbly teenager writing in his diary. Only instead of a bubbly teenager, he's more like a stone-faced alcoholic sitting in a bar.

Lavern leaps off the branch and approaches Nesosa, standing over her with his arms crossed. She grumbles as she pushes off her bedroll to sit up and rub her eyes, letting out a big yawn.

"What the hell happened, Lav? Please tell me ye didn't go lookin' fur them last night." Nesosa crosses her legs and uncomfortably shifts, scratching at her backside and tugging at her pants.

Lavern shakes his head and chuckles. "Don't worry, Nes. I was here the whole time. They found their way back to us last night," he says.

Malachi glances over at the elf, his eyes trailing over his features. His white hair and golden eyes. Thinking about it now, it should've made sense that he was Expiryvus all along. Granted, white hair is the most common hair color among Adaliaens, so that didn't seem out of the ordinary.

However, golden eyes are a very rare trait, especially for someone who doesn't possess magic. Some myths about the White Wolf state that the beasts' eyes are real gold, but that's probably nothing more than a way to up the demand for hunting them down.

Malachi had been fascinated by the Expiryvus as a boy. He's always wanted to find the White Wolf, not to take its pelt and get a mountain of numis, but because he wanted to confirm the legend. He wanted to believe the stories that he learned from his friend. Knowing that Expiryvus is real, even if the beast resides within an annoying Cle boy, it brings him a small amount of contentment.

"Really?" Nesosa raises a brow. "How the bugger did a weak teenager 'n' a feeble auldjin manage tae rammy their way out o' that mess?"

Lavern shrugs and sits down in the dirt beside her bedroll. "Not sure exactly. However, I think they mentioned a bear attacking the camp or something. I suppose in the chaos the cats didn't notice as they slipped away."

Nesosa huffs and flops back in her furs, too tired and annoyed to give a damn about what happened or how they got back. "Sae what now, then?"

Lavern grabs his backpack and shuffles through it, making sure everything is accounted for. "Now, we head for Arkala. Let's wake Naomi so we can start walking," he cracks a grin,"at least you don't have to carry us for the time being. So there's a plus to having this curse."

The centaur scoffs and sits back up, grabbing her bag as well.

Malachi closes his notebook and clips his pen onto the side of the leather cover before tucking it away in his pocket and turning towards Naomi where she's sleeping. He gently grabs her shoulder and shakes her back and forth until she starts to stir but stubbornly keeps her eyes closed and her pillow hugged tightly to her chest.