C.R.A.N.E (Strange Editing WiP)

Chapter Five: Light

"Well, someone's happy to see me," Aatu chuckled.

"Jake! Calm yourself!" Roukan tried to hush him. Jake immediately stopped bouncing around and sat down near Aatu, trying to remain still and content, but couldn't help wagging his tail.

"Actually, what if...?" Roukan wondered, looking back at Jake, who was easy to find in the dark from his heavy panting. He called him over, and unpredictably followed his orders. He grabbed a hold of his collar and gently tugged him.

"Jake can lead us back, can't he?" Aatu asked.

"Well, he brought me here. He can take us back." Roukan jokingly responded.

Roukan told Aatu to hold onto one of his shoulders, as Roukan held onto Jake. He whistled at Jake to grab his attention.

"Lead the way, boy."

Jake shook a bit to get rid of the piling snow off his back and began walking through the dark with ease, and in only a few minutes, they had caught sight of the small illuminating bonfire, coming back safely.

As soon as Aatu saw it, he immediately began looking intently for something he knew shouldn't be unseen. Roukan unintentionally stopped his breathing as his heart sank, watching him desperately look for Accalia. He knew he had to confront the truth to him now rather than later, despite not wanting to. He was afraid of what he might do, and unwanted thoughts like what he would think of him knowing he had failed as a father kept overhauling his mind. They were so overpowering, he had to physically shake his head to stop the thoughts and come back to reality.

"Where's Accalia?" Aatu finally asked.

Roukan was silent. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Roukan. What happened to Accalia?" Aatu repeated his question more sternly, glaring straight at him. Roukan noticed that Aatu's green eyes seemed to change colour very slightly, nearly almost grey. Roukan kept silent, bowing his head down. It was more than enough for Aatu to mistakenly conclude on what had happened.

Aatu exhaled and couldn't help but kick a heap of snow beside him. He cussed, "those fucking air wasters! How could they do that to a kid? A damn kid!"

"Aatu."

"They got some nerve. Killing a fucking child- "

"Aatu! She's not dead! Jesus..." Roukan couldn't stand Aatu's outrage, and winced the word kill. He had just got the idea of death out of his mind, and Aatu's reminder had brought it all back.

"I mean...I don't know." Roukan's voice was calmer, nearly a whisper. Aatu's expression switched from anger to worry and slight confusion, not exactly comprehending what he was saying, however didn't wanna question him, seeing a familiar pain in his eyes.

"I just wanna rest, Aatu. It's been a really, really long day."

Aatu slowed down his breathing, calmed at his reasoning. He looked around the small site, seeing nothing but the small bonfire and a couple of piled blankets near a close-by tree.

"And where exactly where were you planning to sleep?"

He knew it wouldn't do. Promptly, he placed his bag down, took out some supplies and began to build a tent from scratch.

"You could've made, you know, shelter? We've been doing this for a couple of years now, Rouk. You should at least know the basics by now," Aatu mocked, trying to break the tension with a little joke.

"I had little time to get what I needed."

"I told you. You should've prepared way in advance."