The Epic Tale of Cregan

Chapter 10: Up For Anything

Cree coughs over his gasp and his eyes widen, rushing over to the gate and making sure it's shut securely. After seeing that it is, he turns back to the girl. "Why were you out there?!"

Reela sheepishly shrugs. "Making sure you got them all!" she giggles.

Cree sighs and lowers his head in defeat. So much for trying to hide the bodies from her, as he and Regan had hoped to do after finding her. "Fine. You can come with, but—"

"Yay!" Reela jumps up with a big smile. Cree reaches over and grabs the bow, pulling it out of her hands and holding it out of her reach. "Hey!" She tries jumping to reach it.

He keeps the bow in the air. "But I will hold onto this until we actually find something to hunt. You can have it back then," he states.

The child pouts and crosses her arms. "But Cree! Pleeease?" she whines. Cree shakes his head and slings the bow over his shoulders.

"No 'buts'. I don't want you to accidentally shoot me or get yourself hurt. Got it?" Cree asks. Reela looks away as she pouts, stubbornly refusing to give an answer. But Cree can see how she's fidgeting and anxious to go already, so her anger is nothing more than rebellious defiance to have her way.

"Reela..." Cree glares at her.

Reela growls. "Ugh, fiiine. You can hold onto it..."

Cree smiles and pats her on the head. "That's what I thought. Now, come on. We should get going so we can hopefully get back before Regan wakes up. Speaking of..." He turns to look over at where Regan is sleeping beside the fire with Romeow at his side. "Romeow, watch him until we get back. If anyone shows up, wake him and come get me," he calls to the cat. Romeow just lifts his head, stares at him from across the camp, then flops back down. For a robot cat that never grows tired, he seems strangely drained this morning.

Then Cree realizes why. It's the same reason that Thor was so weak after what happened to Edith. Regan may not be an SRL or have an EPC to drain, but his emotions were definitely peaked last night, and it seems Romeow was indirectly affected. Another spike of guilt strikes his heart as he thinks about how he forced Regan to that point.

Cree nods as he stifles his remorse and turns back towards the gate. He pushes it open and leads Reela out before they head off into the forest to hopefully find breakfast.

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When Regan wakes up, the first thing he wonders is if last night really happened or if it was just a nightmare sparked from how Cree has been acting lately. But as his senses return, he feels the sting on his cheek as a reminder that it was real.

After they had gotten back to camp last night, Cree had helped stitch and bandage the wound before bed. But he didn't really say anything for the rest of the night. Understandable, seeing as Regan is aware that Cree has never been one for talking about his emotions. After all that was said in the forest, there really wasn't much more for either of them to say.

Pushing thoughts of last night aside, Regan sits up in his sleeping bag and is delighted to be greeted by the warmth of the campfire. But his fear rises as he realizes that Reela isn't beside him, and Cree is nowhere to be found.

"...Ty? Reela?" he calls out. He quickly stands up; his hands start shaking.

What if Cree took off again...? Like last night. But then where is Reela? What if more Latyrs showed up and caught them? But then why did they leave him? What if Sara found them?

He starts nervously rubbing his knuckles, trying to take deep breaths, and trying to think of what could have happened to them. But as his fear starts reaching its peak, the gates to the camp push open. Reela rushes in with a beaming smile which instantly melts Regan's fear and doubts away. She's safe, so he can allow himself to relax.