"HEIYA, DON'T WANDER TOO FAR!" Hrurim calls from far back down the road. I keep on walking, keeping my musket close. Keeping Pops' gun close. I keep it all close.
I keep ongoing, minding what damage there is on the road. Nevermind what I can't see beneath. Always heading for the breaking of the light. The odd light, the odd light indeed. We're nowhere near the surface, I know that for a fact.
Yet, here I am, so very close to a source of light. The whistle of the wind and the smells of a forest on all of it. If I try, if I really try and listen as closely as I can, then I can... I can hear birds. The rustling of the trees and so much more.
It's strange, it really is. But, I suppose that is life as it has always been. A strange thing filled with stranger things still. Too many things to describe and comprehend, so the gods and goddesses gave us eyes like ours... Minds and hearts...
Ones that cling to important things in life. Family, our love for them and all that comes about it. We cling to them because they matter and even when they're gone, we... We still cling to them.
My nose sniffles and I find my eyes watering once again.
I'm alone. I'm all alone. Nin and Hrurim are here, but they don't get it at all. Pops is gone, Mom is gone, all my siblings are gone too and I have... I have no idea what to do. I'm all alone. There's no one.
"Pops..." I whimper, looking around the tunnel as the cold truth settles about me. Someone used to always be at my side in times like these. A little ahead or far behind, but always close. Even when I went off on my own for the day, it was always for the sake of him. He would always be there for me when I got back and now everywhere I go there is nothing to go back to.
When I leave a place, I leave it. There's nothing waiting for me, no warmth of any kind. Empty buildings, personless roads and cold, cold lands to cross. It's all so frustrating. And it's my fault.
I was the one who got captured. Not even just by the thugs when they were at their strongest... By some nobody who was terrified for his life. Someone who thought my life would save his and all it did was cost Pops his own.
I couldn't even be there for him... I had to run away. I had to run away for the sake of my life... My life as if it's worth anything special when I'm alone.
"Pops... I'm scared." I whimper, hiccuping into a quiet sob as I hold his weapon close. I'm armed, I'm trained and I know how to fight. But it all means nothing. Without him I am scared. I'm terrified and I'm alone.
The world is so much more daunting when there's nothing to turn back towards or look forward to...
There's just this road for the moment. The blackness towards the cave in and the blackness ahead. Or, the surface, so deceptively closer than it should be. A moment of curiosity I should be spending with Pops, not on my own...
But that is what I am doing. I am here on my own. There are people nearby, but it is just me. Only me who really gets it, no matter how hard the others try to understand it.
My weapons slip away, rattling across the cave. I ignore my personal weapon, a labour of hundreds of hours and more. Using, cleaning, making and more... All for the rugged weapon that's so much stronger than my musket will ever be.
I pick up Pops' spike-gun, instantly eyeing it for the new scratches my mistake gave it. A slight sliver of material is now gone, lost to the stone floor of the tunnel. Its shape is deformed ever more so, losing just a bit of itself with each accident. The metal pings wetly.
I look away, sniffling as I rub my little button nose. Making a mess of my facial fur even more. My paw shakily comes to the weapon and I rub away at it, cleaning it up until not even the steamed metal is the same. I keep sniffling, holding the weapon close again as I try to catch onto Pops' palm sweat. That fading smell that's vanishing with each day that passes.
"YOU ALRIGHT, HEIYA!?" Hrurim calls out and I don't even spare him a glance or answer. I scurry for my gear and jog a short burst. Slowing down as the distance is once again restored between us.
Something flutters ahead, and I shoot my eyes up. A sniper's view taking over as the little shadow comes clear again. It bursts between the wall of light, popping between it and vanishing again. A slight sign lingering on the wind, gently coming down.
I rush ahead towards the light, reaching its outermost limits. The curse of bright shine in the deep dark takes over, blocking out the world of the tunnels. However, it lets me see something else. The surface? No, it must be something else.
The loose feather enters my pinching digits and I turn towards the light.
Trees, halolight, animals and more. It's all there beyond this rather awkward crack in the wall. The stone is not naturally formed. It's carefully cut and pumped full of magic yet... Here it is.
I look the way I came, unable to really catch the pair as they follow along. They might be running, jogging or just walking. I can't tell. All I know is that they're coming.
"What the...?" I go, finding a brief moment of bliss from the memory of Pops. He's there, always there, but I can see a flash of time without him. Beyond the crack and in this strange world on the other-side. A natural looking one that doesn't belong here at all.
I slowly make my way ahead, treading carefully over the cracked rock and rubble. The near-black rock comes to mind and the sparkles of a pale blue do, too. I keep moving ahead, finding dew-touched grass and a slightly dried earth below.
"Woah..." I find myself saying, losing myself in the peculiar awe of it for just one freeing moment. A flock of birds goes across my vision, blocking some of the daylight out while the forest rustles with other animals. Their little black eyes as curious about me as they are about the whole in the mountain wall.
"HEIYA, WAIT UP!" echoes Hrurim's voice and I linger as is, not wanting to get physically lost. Though, I can't say the same for my mind as my eyes drown in this world's sparkling splendour.