Chapter 12: What Others See

  Consciousness shifting between darkness, and vague glimpses of hazy moonlight.

  Littering the lion cub’s body, were gruesome wounds torn out by jagged fangs.

  Fever had long gripped its juvenile frame, as its skin and flesh, to the very bone itself, alternated between realms of burning fire and piercing ice.

  Every muscle in its body twitched, trembled, and shivered, fighting for release that would not come.

  It almost preferred to go fully into slumber, and yet, it fought to maintain a sliver of flickering consciousness.

  Not mentioning that his slumber could possibly become eternal, but they could come at any time, return at any moment, to feast on the unfinished meal that was him. He had to stay vigilant.

  Suddenly, something touched the lion cub’s fur. With all its strength the cub strugglingly lifted his arm, and swiped its paw across the air.

  Did I get it?

  For a while nothing happened, leading to the creature thinking it had successfully fended itself off from the threat.

  …But then the black lion cub felt a sensation on its fur once again. Flinching from the touch, it tried weakly to raise its small paw.

  Yet before the small creature could, it felt a warm sensation passing through, and into him. The warmth was tender, and caring.

  Mother's paw?

  The black lion cub was sure that his mother’s paw was not so small, in fact, her paw was huge…and yet it felt so familiar.

  Moments passed as the sensation of tender care stayed with him.

  With its consciousness flickering in and out of awareness, the lion cub sifted through blurry realms of harrowing chill and scorching fire, to focus on that island of solace.

  It felt safe. It felt reassured.

  And the lion cub was not sure when, but it had fallen asleep under that tender sensation…

  …Only to awaken again in the middle of the night without it.

  Panic set in his heart, shortly followed by resignation. The sensation was gone and he didn’t have the strength to go and look for it.

  With its higher intelligence, the black lion cub even wondered to itself if that tender warmth was just a fleeting dream. Something he wished desperately to have, so it had come, only to depart from him as soon as he awoke to reality.

  The burning came back, along with the freezing. This time however, he had nothing to bear the pain with, he had to endure alone.

  At least the bleeding had clotted, the lion cub thought, although he was not sure when he had covered himself in leaves…was he always laying in a bed of them?

  Slowly, the cub’s eyes flickered open. The last sink into unconsciousness had given him enough strength to strugglingly open his eyes.

  From the forest floor he raised his head ever so slightly. The cub’s fur rubbed softly against the leaves, as he tried to look for the moon, and how much distance it had travelled since he first passed out.

  The black cub’s eyes darted slowly and driftingly, almost having no control over them. Despite his efforts, the moon hid in a place his eyes could not reach.

  All he could see was its stray light, and the shadows it casted over the forest.

  Shadows…

  He stared at them as they fell, inseparable extensions of one existence.

  Yet as he continued to stare at them, the shadows grew. From the trees and the foliage, they extended further and further from whence they came, until finally, they departed from their material vessels altogether.

  If the lion cub had the strength to, his eyes would definitely open wide. His heartbeat then started to race as he was forced to watch the nightmarish sight transforming in front of him.

  From the two-dimensional shapes they casted, the shadows were rising solid and turning three-dimensional.

  The sound of bones breaking and muscles popping was heard next in the lion cub’s ears. Warping and twisting unnaturally, the disembodied shadows assumed the forms of four-legged creatures.

  Growling, the pack of creatures slowly and insidiously circled him. They prowled closer and closer as the cub’s heart tried to beat out of its chest. Finally, the dark creatures lunged forward with shadow jagged teeth.

  The black lion cub shut his eyes.

  A dozen ravenous maws tore and gorged on his flesh…and yet he felt none of the pain.

  Instead, he felt…something wet being applied on his wounds.

  Mother— Is mother licking my wounds?

  But the sensation didn’t feel as liquid as saliva, and it was oddly cooling at times, and warm at other times. Her saliva didn’t feel like that.

  What about the shadow beasts?

  …Time passed as he heard only silence, and between flickering glimpses of his vague vision, he could not make out any growling shadows.

  The black lion cub slowly realized that what he saw, or thought he saw, was just a dream. A nightmare.

  Normally animals wouldn’t have the intelligence to have or deduce such thoughts, but a black-furred lion was no ordinary creature.

  Eyes fluttering open, he could see the moon now, although it was but a blurry, circular glow amongst a sea of darkness.

  Moreover it was no longer behind or high above his weak body, but in front of him, casting shadows that nervously reached towards him...

  Yet they refused to come alive like in his dream, and the sensation of tender warmth, had returned. Each and every time his wounds were gently caressed, he felt it, but would it stay this time?

  As his eyes opened and closed, as his consciousness flickered to see the descending moon in a different spot each time, the tender warmth stayed with him.

  Was this a dream too?

  If so, it was the most comforting dream he ever had.

  Slowly, the lion cub’s eyes started to stay closed. It felt safe. It felt reassured. And in that, he slowly drifted into the soft embrace of sleep.

  When its eyes gently opened again, the sun was rising from the east.

  Its eyelids no longer felt ten times as heavy, nor was its body burning and shivering at the same time. The fever from last night had passed.

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  The black lion cub tried to stand, yet the many wounds he had made him stop in the attempt.

  In the midst of that pain however, he was reminded of something that felt profoundly different from the agony.

  That sensation of tender warmth was still here! It was not just a dream. It had stayed with him all throughout the night, and it was still here as he awoke. In fact…it was right behind him, still holding him in a cradle.

  The lion cub turned its body, expecting to see his mother.

  Yet it jumped up in fright as soon as he saw what was actually behind him. Despite its wounds, the cub assumed a crouching stance with its claws bared, looking intently at the “thing” in front of him.

  It was…a creature that the cub had never seen before. The black lion cub had seen many sorts of beasts in the place where it had lived, but never an animal such as this.

  No wait— it did remember a creature that swung through the trees at an amazing speed. The one in front of him however, had no tail, no fur, and its body was slightly different in a way.

  Approaching cautiously at the sleeping Vendus, it was at that moment that the lion cub’s nose started to twitch.

  Never taking its eyes off of him, the cub lowered his nose to smell the cool, floral scent on Vendus’s fingertips.

  There was no mistake…that same scent was all over his wounds, and the cub was sure they were the reason his wounds didn't hurt more.

  Realizing this the black lion cub’s gaze slowly softened, and so too did his taut, and tight muscles started to relax.

  This creature was the source of that warmth, that tender, nurturing touch amongst the harrowing things it had gone through last night.

  Approaching closer to the sleeping boy, the cub lowered its head, before nuzzling its furry face onto Vendus’s.

  …

  Before night’s end, but just before the sun rose, Sera woke up in her tent.

  The internal clock in her body was conditioned to perfection. She had awoken to the same minute, and to the same second as she had yesterday, and all the days before.

  Stretching her arms and rubbing her eyes, she looked to her left, where a hefty stack of letters, envelopes, and documents, formed miniature paper towers and buildings.

  Sera was a soldier, but more importantly, she was a courier. Combat-wise she was not unskilled, but nothing special either. Yet everyone had their specialties, and her’s was not only in her speed and marathon-like endurance, but in her astounding memory, and naturally social and amiable nature.

  When she was not acting as an urgent messenger for individuals much higher than her station, Sera by herself was responsible for the delivery and acquisition of tens of thousands of letters, both informal, and official.

  The chappy courier had thousands of faces in her head, along with thousands of names, and even special details about them such as their favorite color, or the coffee beans they used. Her ability to observe and remember all those details, along with her natural personality, gave her a subconscious edge in creating pleasant relationships. Without a doubt, she was known and well-liked.

  Today, would be the same as any other. From dawn to dusk she would get rid of that miniature city formed of papers, and accumulate a new one instead to deliver to another location.

  Quickly, she dressed herself out from her sleepwear and into the official uniform of a special military courier.

  It was still dark, but before breakfast, she usually liked to deliver letters and documents to those close to her. More importantly, to recipients who normally received large volumes of mail.

  Normally such people were those with authority and responsibilities, like company commanders, platoon leaders, people such as Captain Luther, etc.

  Funny enough though, the recipient that she tasked herself to deliver to first, was someone who was not any of those things. In fact she was a bit of a pariah among the soldiers…

  Very shortly, Sera arrived before a sizable tent at the edge of a forest clearing. It was placed noticeably away from the others, and its size was at least three to four times larger than the rest of the other tents.

  Yet the courier didn’t call out to the person inside, nor quietly slipped the letters meant for her into the tent.

  Without a second thought she directly passed by the sizable tent and walked a few paces down towards the sound of a gushing river.

  Along with the sound of rushing water however, Sera could hear the whistles, and sometimes breaking roars of the wind.

  Parting through the thick vegetation, Sera saw a young woman in leather pants, boots, and a black tank-top flourishing her swordplay. Each strike, slash, and thrust, were strokes in a seamless dance of devastating grace. Sometimes the strikes flowed into each other like crashing waves of an ocean, at other times like the swift flight of a thousand birds, and at other times in pure sporadic chaos, with each thrust serving as a discordant note that purposely disrupted rhythm and harmony.

  Seeing her guest who had come out of the woods, Ruby smiled warmly and shouted “Sera!”

  The warm smile on the beautiful girl's face brought about a grin on her own. Thinking back to when she first met the young lady, she was not greeted as warmly.

  ‘Actually, I think I was straight up ignored…’

  Yet Sera was neither offended nor disheartened. The naturally chappy courier was as bright and unrelenting as the morning sun. Through frequent encounters, she had slowly melted through Ruby’s aloofness, and pierced through that isolating shell.

  “I've got your mail.”

  “You know I said you can just slip them into my tent.” Ruby said warmly.

  “Yeah…but I wanted to come and chat.”

  A surprised expression shot across Ruby's face.

  Noticing it, Sera said, “What? Life’s not all work. I can have fun here and there!”

  To which Ruby replied, “...I agree!”

  The two sat down upon a grassy hill overlooking the river. Back and forth they made small talk until a particular question.

  “So how are things?” Ruby asked.

  “Same as always.”

  “How bout you?” Sera asked back.

  A nasty grimace appeared on Ruby’s picturesque face. Despite her scowl it did nothing to diminish her beauty.

  ‘Girl if I only had your looks…’ Sera thought.

  Ruby replied in a low voice, “I don't wanna talk about it…”

  “Is that so? Haha, we don't have to talk about it then.” Sera said, as the rustling of papers and documents could be heard.

  “Let me see…”

  From out of her delivery bag, Sera produced two dozen or so letters.

  “All for you, my Lady.” The courier said humorously.

  “Why thank you, my humble servant.”

  Ruby tried not to, but as she took the letters into her hands, Sera could see the dispiritedness in her eyes.

  Most of the letters that she received were from the Elantross family, most notably by a “Lord Geldorn Elantross,” and a “Lady Isobel Elantross.”

  As Ruby’s full name was Ruby Roxanne Anastasia Elantross, it wasn't hard to guess who those people were.

  As for the rest of the letters, several of them were from other noble families, particularly from young men, while the other seven were a few lovestruck soldiers who didn't have the gall to send it themselves…

  ‘I swear I see new names every week!’

  Having received the bunch of letters, Ruby replied subduedly, “Thanks, Bella...”

  “Bella? Who's that?”

  “Huh? Did I say Bella?”

  “Sorry, Bella was my poodle back home.”

  “Your poodle?”

  ‘Ru— Ruby…is that how you see me?’

  Seeing the odd expression on Sera’s face, Ruby quickly cleared it up.

  Waving her hands in a panicked, “No that's not what I meant!” manner, she replied, “Whenever Bella saw me she'd always become really happy— and whenever I was sad, that always made me really happy!”

  “You're also very cheerful so…”

  “Uh— I mean…”

  “Hahaha!” Sera laughed brightly.

  “Okay.”

  “I'll just take that as a compliment…”

  “I still have other people to get to, so…” She tried to curtsy as she frequently saw other noble ladies did, which brought about a warm smile on Ruby’s face.

  As she turned around and was just about to leave however, Sera exclaimed, “Oh!”

  “Hmm?” Ruby hummed in response.

  Sera muttered, “There was another…I almost couldn't make out the name…”

  Ruby tilted her head as the special courier rummaged through her bag.

  “Ahah!”

  From her bag, Sera pulled out a crumpled letter with scribbled writing that said, “To Sis Ruby.”

  It didn't specify a last name, but as it came with the other letters from the Elantross family, Sera could only assume it was to her.

  Ruby slowly stretched out her hand whilst looking at the crumpled letter, and that was when she made out the colored drawing of a rabbit’s face, with long, fluffy ears.

  Quickly, her hand shot out and yanked it from Sera’s grasp.

  “Ahem, I'd just like to say I found it crumpled…”

  But Ruby didn't reply. In fact, she seemed a bit speechless as she stared in a daze at the letter in her hands.

  “Hmmm, I'll leave you to it then.” As observant as Sera was, there were times it was best not to observe, and the look in Ruby’s eyes told her exactly that.

  Besides, she still had to deliver a good two or three stacks of mail!

  Making the rounds, her feet blurred from sight and so did she. Within a two-mile radius she swiftly and precisely carried out her duties. When she could, she made small talk with her recipients and other early-risers, enjoying their banter and company alike.

  Truly, the life of an extrovert.

  En route to and upon delivery however, Sera was frequently exposed to not only recent events and jokes, but to gossip.

  And all the gossip that morning, had to do with Ruby.

  “That bitch called us all incompetent, and disgraces!”

  “Did you hear what happened last night, with Reynolds, Arwin, and the noble?”

  “She tread on the name of our fallen! Called them all useless for dying!”

  “I always knew she was stuck-up. I never knew she just outright didn’t care for her fellow soldiers’ lives.”

  “Did you expect more from a noble?”

  “Don’t let them hear you say that. And not all of them are like her.”

  The words and sometimes profanities that were said undoubtedly made Sera uncomfortable, and yet agreeableness often came with meekness. Stuck in her throat were all the words that she wanted to say to defend her friend.

  Things such as. “She’s not like that at all,” or “ I know her. She’d never say those things,” but none of those words came out.

  As Sera returned to her tent, she sighed out a deep breath.

  The chappy courier was often charged with energy from social interactions, but it was not always the right energy. And like any other person, she was influenced by the surroundings and people around her.

  Second-guessing herself, she thought, ‘...Could she have really said those things?’

  ‘...Ruby can be…sometimes…’

  Sera lightly slapped her face with both hands, “You know what? I’ll just go and ask!”

  This action was something an introvert could never do.

  Briskly walking northside of the camp, Sera started to talk to herself out loud, “It must be a misunderstanding! Just a misunderstanding— yeah.”

  “Hmmm…Ruby should still be practicing her swordplay. Gods, she wakes up earlier than me!”

  When the chappy courier arrived before her tent, to her surprise she saw a vague figure through the semi-transparentness of the tent.

  The sun’s rays were just beginning to peek out from the horizon, but it was still dark out. Ruby’s shadowed silhouette could be seen amongst the flickering candlelight.

  ‘Should I call out to her? She seems to be doing something, but I’m sure she heard me and my footsteps.’

  Being not just acquaintances but friends, Sera opened the tent’s flap without much thought, and there, in the dim candlelight, she saw a sight not meant to be seen.

  Ruby’s eyes moistened, tears falling from her eyes down her cheeks, whence they dripped down upon that same crumpled letter, that she herself had handed to Ruby.

  Sera— unable to extricate her eyes, looked towards the writing on the letter.

  It read…

  I love you and I miss you, big sis, but don’t you worry!

  Before saying our goodbyes, I saw this quote in one of Elise’s books. You know, the ones she told me I’m not allowed to read!

  It goes…

  “I don’t know when I’ll see you, but I know I will.”

  Maybe next month, or next year…but I know I’ll see you again.

  Love, your always baby-sister, Bunny.

  Ruby’s own lips parted, softly whispering, “I love you too.”