New Pt.2 [King/Jack Mela/Ronin]

There were a couple days that Mela and King, along with the Shi’vali Ronin and Jack, spent in those silvery strange ruins. The two Hinshu had led their riders there wanting to show them something they had never seen before, or just something to surprise them. They had certainly surprised them.

The markings along the old stone was strange but familiar. The pictures looking like the goddess of Mela’s home planet, Victoria. Great goddess Victoria. It wasn’t a far stretch to think that Victorians had come here before Mela and King either. Mela’s people had been on the hunt for the perfect place to rehome. Their planet was slowly withering away just as much as the sickly rider was right before King’s very eyes.

The Victorians could have easily fought off the forces here, especially back in the day when their sickness was weaker and their forces stronger, bigger. Something sent them home. Obviously they were not here any more. Mela took comfort just in seeing the culture of her people in front of her eyes, and she fawned over the stone like she was at an altar. Ronin and Jack had taken to watching her, especially since King was far less vocal about his opinions.

The sight threw King off. It wasn’t that it was not his own people--if anything he took comfort in that fact--but instead that he couldn’t be sure what had sent the Victorians packing. Maybe they were even mistaken, maybe this wasn’t a Victorian at all. Either way King felt unsettled. He felt like the hair on the back of his neck was constantly bristled. He kept waking up in a fright, thinking someone was looming over him. The more time that went by, the more he desperately wanted to leave.

Yet he had let things drag on this long. He was having a hard time telling Mela ‘no’ on this. He was his leader, and even his Hinshu, Jack, was dominant over Ronin. There would be no arguing, they would head out the second King said so. Yet here he was. For all he knew, this would be the last time Mela ever got a good look at a piece of her homelands. He had zero attachment to his own home planet, but he couldn’t bare to pry her away. At least not yet.

So for the days, King left the ruins to check out the surrounding land. Jack was always with him as his steed, guide, and companion against loneliness. Once or twice, but only for a few hours, Ronin had joined as well. She would always wander back to Mela before the day was even close to done. It was probably for the best. If there was something worth fearing in these lands, then Mela shouldn’t be left alone for too long.

It was silent in the woods with only Jack’s large breaths breaking the air. With a bit of magic, King was nearly always able to return with something fresh for him and Mela  to eat. Today was no different. While Jack sniffed the prey out, King was the one who downed a pair of pheasants. White eared pheasants, nearly as crisply white as the snow that covered the expanse, but not quite hidden enough for Jack’s sharpness.

King tromped through the snow to the dead birds and picked them up by the necks. A good swing of the body to be sure the birds were dead before he inspected where he hit the birds. The magic singed the feathers but overall the birds were in good condition. They might even be able to use the feathers for something in the future. Satisfied with the catch, King brought the birds back to Jack, and stuffed the future-dinner away in one of the Hinshu’s saddle bags.

He sighed happily. The ruins may have put him on edge, but having a successful hunt did well to relax the mind. He glanced at Jack, expecting the Shi’vali to have a similar ease even if he hadn’t taken part in the actual killing, but Jack was staring off into the woods. His ears pricked stiffly skyward and focused on where his eyes glared. His breath became audible with little unsettling growls. King slowly placed a hand on the Hinshu’s shoulder, instantly feeling the tense muscles.

So Jack was starting to feel the same now? King narrowed his eyes. Was what had been getting under his own skin finally rearing its ugly head? It was tempting to just get on Jack’s back and ride off, get to Ronin and Mela, and never look back, but he just couldn’t resist stepping forward beside Jack to look off just as Jack did.

There was nothing. It was absolutely silent and still out there, yet it made King’s stomach twist around.

Curiosity took over again when he finally turned and mounted his Hinshu. He took the reins but did not change Jack’s direction when he kicked the Hinshu’s side, commanding him to move forward. Jack grunted, clearly uncomfortable, but did just as King asked. He padded forward. The two stayed alert and ready.

Some part of King expected tigers or bears, just as hungry for the bits of prey that King had been scooping up. He’d found a healthy supply over the few days. Rabbits, pheasants, squirrels and even a small foxes, all easy prey for mighty beasts. Yet King and Jack did not find a single track or mark of tiger nor bear nor leopard nor wolf. There wasn’t another sign of a Hinshu nor feral Shi’vali to be found out here either.

If the signs were to be believed, then this forest was as safe as a kindergarten. Jack and King once again found nothing at all, even after nearly an hour of just looking around the area for mere clues. The two headed back. King and Mela would need to get to work early on defeathering the pheasants anyways if they wanted to have them cooked and ready to eat by sundown. It didn’t stop Jack from just sauntering slowly back to camp. King took it to be him continuing to keep an eye peeled for trouble. King did the same.

Upon returning, King and Jack found Mela and Ronin up to very little. Ronin was sound asleep and Mela was still looking over the stone. She had a blanket wrapped around her with her chilled nose tucked under the fabric to keep warm while she traced a gloved hand over the markings. It was an obsession and unhealthy to be sure, but King still chose against outright telling her to stop. Although he certainly wasn’t going to just leave her to sit there and stare.

“Ay, I brought game birds.” King called out to her as he dismounted Jack. The day hadn’t been hard but he felt exhausted, and he certainly wasn’t going to pass up on Mela helping out with the pheasants.

Mela nodded and got to her feet. She obediently walked to King as he held up the white-feathered pheasants for her to see. He opened his mouth, about to ask what bird she wanted, but his attention was drawn away when Jack left his side with a groan. Jack still sounded uneasy and strange, and the Hinshu male made a lumbering beeline for Ronin. He hunkered down right next to her and shut his eyes with a huff.

He seemed exhausted. It was strange, King knew the male was up for more than today or any of the recent work the group had done as of late. Was Jack feeling unwell? He sure tucked his head into Ronin’s mane like he was desperate for more warmth. It was a snowy winter, sure, but nothing all too frigid really.

“How long has Ronin been out?” King asked instead and flicked his eyes back to Mela.

She was taking the bird she liked the most from King’s hands even without him asking about it, and answered his other concerns with ease. “Not long. I guess since she got back maybe an hour ago?”

“Agh, an hour ago?”

The sickly rider nodded and looked at King oddly. He blinked a few times, but didn’t immediately say anything. He pondered how much time had past while him and Jack were alone, without Ronin. Mela meanwhile went and sat down on a bit of old stone wall. She was quick to getting her headstart on plucking the bird clean.

“If you get the fire going, King, I’ll finish your bird once I finish mine.” Mela offered to the silent rider.

“Uh,” King shook his head quickly, escaping his deepening, worrying, thoughts and blinked again at Mela. “Sure.”

He stepped to her side just long enough to drop off the bird before getting to work on the fire. He went silent again while he gathered new sticks and placed them in the stone ring they had made so many nights ago. With the still air and a bit of magic, it was never hard to get the fire going once enough firewood was gathered to keep the flame alive. He kneeled down and with just one flick of his tail there was fire. It was less effort than it took to kill a pheasant, yet after this time King couldn’t stop himself from taking a deep breath. It felt absolutely exhausting.

He wrinkled his nose at the feeling and pinned his ears back. Something definitely felt off. His eyes wandered back to Ronin and Jack, both sound asleep now with Jack desperately hiding his face away in Ronin’s fur. Ronin didn’t budge an inch as he did so either. She didn’t even make a sound.

But Jack eventually did. Something whimpering and soft and so very un-Jack that it alone made King shiver. Ears pinning back, King stood back up abruptly. In an instant he felt weary and wobbly. He brought a hand to his forehead to stay himself, and to keep from falling over, vomiting, or both right then and there.

“Mela.” King groaned. “There’s somethin’ wrong around here.”

Mela looked up. The King she knew so well looked immediately sick, but she had a doubtful look. “They call it a cold, King. Do not worry so much about it…”

King grunted at that. This didn’t feel like the earthly ‘cold’ he’d heard about. He felt like he had vertigo and for a moment all the stone pillars around him seemed to swing. He had to shut his eyes tight to keep from toppling over. He had to blindly make his way to Jack and Ronin before opening his eyes again and settling them on the two large beasts.

Jack’s python-patterned coat was sickening to look at. It was like a drug trip with his current vision, but his attention was drawn to Ronin anyways. She had been asleep far longer, and was so very still. King gulped hard, anxious, as he rested a hand on her neck. He was checking her pulse.

It was there. Slow and relaxed but there. However her breathing felt rough and strange, he could feel the air scrape down her throat as she only lightly inhaled.

“Ay, Ronin isn’t well.” King acknowledged firmly. He’d here nothing of this ‘common cold’ business. “We need to go, Mela.”

“What??”

“Ronin isn’t well.” King repeated and jerked his head to her--an action he immediately regretted. He shut his eyes tight again. “Gr--Grab your things and let’s get the Shi’vali up!”

Mela didn’t need the repeating. Panic didn’t fill the woman upon hearing and re-hearing that Ronin wasn’t well, that both the Hinshu--and her King--were not well. She pursed her brows and shook her head. She set the bird down and smacked her palm on the cold stone she sat upon.

“No! I can’t just leave this place, King!” Mela bleated. It was as firm and stubborn as the woman ever sounded. She was usually such an obedient lady, even with a short time left to fill out some sort of bucket list. It seemed that bucket list had finally won out over her loyalty however. “This is my home!”

“And if this keeps up, it’ll be our grave!” King snapped. “Now get your ass in gear, Mela!”

Mela huffed indignantly, but got up all the same. Her stubborn streak sizzled out at King’s bold tone. She quickly gathered up her things while King forcibly rose the Shi’vali. Jack didn’t want to remove his face from Ronin’s pelt as he fought the need to breath in ‘fresh’ air but did so after a bit of prodding and promising from his rider. The male Hinshu a sickly groan and stood with his legs wide apart, trying to keep himself balanced without expending any extra energy to do so. He looked like a weak little foal struggling to stand for the first time.

Ronin took far more effort to even get to open her eyes. It was like King had to shake her out of a deep dream. She looked around at their surroundings with an absolutely lost expression on her face before slowly and wearily getting to her paws as well. As soon as she stood, King was rushing to Jack and climbing up onto his back. He waited just long enough for Mela to be on Ronin before desperately kicking Jack’s sides.

Jack and Ronin trotted away from the camp as quick as they could. It wasn’t terribly fast and both the Hinshu dragged their paws like they had been walking for days in a desert. King was repeating and repeating words to keep Jack going, and it wasn’t long before Mela finally joined in as well. It was the only noise that broke the silent air of the surrounding forest where only the quiet little animals seemed to do well. Jack and Ronin pressed on as best they could, aware just as well of what sort of strange danger they were in, but they only got so far before Ronin couldn’t go on any longer. The female Hinshu tripped a little over her own paws before falling to her side like a hunted elk.

Mela shrieked in pain and immediately struggled. The large beast’s weight had pinned the rider’s leg right under the heavy shoulderblade. Ronin was limp, not moving. Mela pressed her hands against Mela’s back, pushing and pushing but to no avail. Jack at least turned and weakly dragged himself back to the two girls.

“K-King help! King, I’m stuck!” Mela cried. “Please! I--I!”

She looked up to Jack towering over her only to see that her friend on his back was slumped forward. Out cold. Mela trembled terribly in fear. There really was something wrong out here. She should have left sooner, she shouldn’t have insisted on staying just to indulge in the remains of a dead colony.

The woman’s eyes welled up before she shut them tight. What was going to happen to King and Ronin? To Jack and her too if this kept going on? She bit her lip and whimpered.

“Jack!” She suddenly barked before thrashing a hand up. She pointed out into the distance. “Just go, Jack!”

The male Hinshu looked at her oddly before then glancing out into the distance. He hesitated and she barked again, “Go already!”

Jack peered back at the pinned rider again, a pitiful groan slipping from his throat. It was weak and rough. Slowly but obediently, he turned and continued trekking. King was limp on his back and the journey slow and painful, but Jack was able to keep on going much longer than Ronin could.

Eventually Jack did stumble, and need to rest his eyes, but he could smell it in the air; it was different now. He slumped down in an open field where the wind blew and there was the call of Shi’vali off in the distance. He heard pawsteps and grunting. There were the voices of humans that came and then there was nothing but blackness.

When Jack woke up again, he was in a large warm room and on a soft white bed. For a second, his heart twisted with anxiety until his eyes fell upon King not too far away. His rider was speaking with a man dressed in white and sipping a steamy green tea.

“It will help your lungs.” The man insisted. King nodded quietly.

The man went on with a few more directions, words that Jack recognized as being how to tend to a Hinshu’s health in this sort of situation. Apparently the duo wouldn’t be hunting anything to big or straining again for a while. According to the man in white. King nodded again.

“Did you find my friend?” King asked, his voice raspy.

The man was silent at first. God, King hated silence now. Jack did too.

“I’m sorry, but we sent a team exactly where you said to go. There was no one there.”