Legends of Arkadia - Forgotten World

~ Chapter 9 ~

Sunlight washed over the ledge overlooking the canyon, the lake beyond the jungle reflecting pastel coloured shapes in the sky, that were their worlds moons. Birds sang and the forest echoed in happiness around them for once, but no one could bring themselves to listen.

Rune hadn't slept a wink. Jatari could tell by the way he still sat at the cliffs edge where she saw him last night in the exact same spot. He was staring up at the moons in the sky, looking calm and thoughtful, but she noticed matted fur under his eyes. What from, she knew exactly.

Her own cheeks were still wet from the tears that had escaped in her dreams that night. Nightmares of seeing her sister fall beyond the lip of the cliff edge with a horrified look in her eyes, like the day she'd lost her lover. It defied her logic since she hadn't actually seen Vanna fall, but it didn't stop her mind from filling in the blanks. She wondered if seeing it for herself would have been worse, or if the horrors of her own mind brought her false memory justice.

She's gone...

The voice in her mind reminded her again, but it all still felt so surreal... like if she turned around she'd see Vanna smiling her sweet smile at her once again, as if it had all been a bad dream. She turned her head and saw Yuko, the young Seviri who she'd blamed for the death of her fellow warriors, sitting by the edge of the cliff and staring down into the gorge with a pained look in his eyes. He shared her grief, even if it wasn't even close to all the pain she felt inside.

The sun was awake, as her sister always called it, and the brief memory made her throat tighten once more. But as Vanna always said, 'if the sun is awake, so should you be.'

Jatari tried to imagine her sisters sweet smile, and let that replace the dark imaginations she'd played through in her nightmares. Her ears perked when Yuko finally left the edge followed by Rune, and they both approached her expectantly. Her body tensed instinctively and tried to let it go before they stopped before her, and she held her breath.

"What do we do now?.." Yuko's soft voice was gentle and wanting. Rune stood beside him with a yearning expression in his eyes.

She didn't know.

What do we do now?...

'Violence isn't always the answer..' She heard the nagging voice of her sister that she knew would've said something about the rage she now felt building inside her. It wasn't just hate and anger now, it was more. She had to keep fighting for her sister. Keep fighting to save the plants from that fungus that's taking over... Keep fighting to find the hidden worlds she never shut up about... Keep fighting to stop that horde of beasts from ever taking another innocent life again.

Her pupils turned to slits as she stood up tall, looking down at the two weird animals before her that she now saw as her strange new friends. The odd coincidences that brought them together seemed like nonsense to her before. But Vanna had seen the good in these creatures. Even if they weren't Kyn, they were her family now.

Vanna would have wanted that...

She smiled to herself and fought back brimming tears.

"We're going to stop the bastard who did this to us... But first.." The feline stood at the edge of the ravine and stared out to the left towards the northern jungles far beyond the lands she knew. Far in the distance she could make out the strange massive arches that lept entire valleys. A landmark that bordered one of the markers on her map that her sister had circled for her.

"We're going to need some help~..."

"Where are we going to go?" Rune spoke first, but Yuko echoed the same question in his mind. Jatari smiled wide as she looked down on the two confused creatures.

"A village... located by the Ancient Ruins..."

* * * * *

Viral hummed to himself as he put a cross through the picture of the cliffside village with his dagger.

"Another warrior I don't have to worry about."

The strange creature chuckled softly and he began to draw out a path on his map that he had laid out over his wooden table. His ears twitched as a scuffing noise dragged across the floor, shaking off the distraction as the Pilayha beasts continued to wrestle and fight in the caves mindlessly behind him. He groaned as the noise sounded again.

"Could you heathens shut up for once and stay quiet!?" He shouted back at the rough-housing animals and they let out submissive whines before pulling away from each other and falling silent as he sighed in relief, turning his attention back to the map.

Finally some silence.

One second passed... Another few seconds passed... The loud dragging sound hit his ears again and he let out a growl, his eyes alight in a furious glowing red.

"What did I JUST SAY!?" Viral whipped around furiously, stopping on the spot when he saw Mimic dragging something four times his size across the floor towards his part of the cave room. The strong little creature finally stopped to glance back at him and let go of his prize, looking between him and the thing on the floor warily.

The tall creature's interest caught as he slowly walked closer, getting a better look at his pet's quarry. His eyes widened when he made out the shape on the floor and turned to Mimic confused.

"What is this? Why not feed on it where you found-" The creature hissed, cutting him off and nodded to the broken body before him. His stomach lurched when he saw that it was actually breathing. Shallow and weak, but breathing. How was that even possible? He saw it himself, that girl had endured a thousand foot fall into a raging river, she shouldn't have survived, it was impossible.

He glared down at the half-dead woman before him, stepping closer and examining her damaged state. She was covered in bleeding gashes and bruises that she must've obtained from the rocks in the rapids. He scanned her unconscious face and scoffed after watching her for several moments.

"Those belligerent Warriors have cost me decades of waiting and replanning! And you thought it would be wise to bring one here!?... Into my-"

Viral silenced as he followed Mimic's concentrated gaze to the girls face and his eyes widened when he noticed... She didn't have any saber fangs...

"She's not a real Warrior... But she fought like a demon, how did she learn to fight if she wasn't born into the tribe's Warrior's guild?" All Warriors in the Kynai Tribes had to be born with saber fangs in order to be considered chosen for the guild. It was something he had learned with many years of studying the troublesome cats. The Kynai Warriors guild fought to drive 'demons' back through 'the gates of hell'... Viral snickered at the sound of it in his head.

He eyed the unconscious girl for another long moment, his mind calculating as his gaze darted from her closed eyes to her missing fangs. He watched her shiver on the ground, her breathing getting weaker.

"She's dying, you know." He muttered, glancing up at Mimic and the blank-eyed creature shot him a contemptful glare. He scoffed again, dismissive, not caring for his pet's reaction.

"I don't know what you expect me to do. She won't survive past noon, I'm baffled she even made it this long. Look, what do you even want me to do with her? She's just a Kynai Tribe cat. Why did you even bring her back here?"

The little creature suddenly turned and walked off after letting out a long unamused groan, leaving the lone figure to watch him leave before returning his gaze to the dying girl before him. He didn't understand why Mimic had even brought him the useless girl in the first place. How was this case in any way special?

It wasn't.

Just kill her and be done with it.

Viral growled through his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he stood and extended his hand over the girl, his ears standing tall and alert and his tail lashing irritatedly as black liquid-like tendrils began to form and drip down from the tips of his claws like blood. The lacing tendrils made contact on her shoulder and began to pour and spread like slime over her limp body. The strange substance continued to form from his fingertips, his eyes glowing bright green as the girl's body slowly disappeared under the thick black mass.