Chapter 240 - Vol. 4 - 39

Okay, let's see if there's anything left of him, Ash thought, as she reached the mountain where Gurron had died. 

It was still raining, and the tear in her dress made walking around feel slightly uncomfortable as the cold air snuck into her clothing through the cut, but Ash was nearly done, and, really, it wasn't soon enough. 

Pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, Ash looked ahead at the mountain.

Come on... Please, just be totally not eaten. 

Of course, she was also keeping an eye out for those strange, creatures with the blue orbs in their heads. She hadn't seen much of anything, actually, since she arrived, which meant that the biggest obstacle on her way up to the clearing she was looking for was the mud her feet continued to drag through. 

Once she reached the top, she looked ahead and let out a disappointed sigh. 

"Of course," Ash mumbled as she saw that Gurron's body had been pecked to the bones. She walked up, knowing that she may as well be turning around and leaving by now, but she still wanted to see just to make sure they were gone. Indeed, as she walked up and unfortunately inhaled the terrible-smelling corpse in front of her, she saw that all that was left of Gurron's head was his skull. 

Fuck me.  Ash thought.

"So," she muttered, "I guess I have to go hunting for dragons now." 

---

Luvine

The rain had cleared up a bit ago, and the group wanted to take advantage of that, not knowing if the rain would come back soon. 

"Mom, mom!" Opah called out to Metsumi. 

"Yes, sweetie?" Metsumi replied, patting her head. 

"Look!" She said before she tried to show off some punches that she'd seen Sinneah do, all while Luvine watched from the side. 

"Oh, wow, nice! You're gonna be quite the warrior," Metsumi grinned at her daughter. 

"Last thing I want is for that to happen," Satsuhiro said to Metsumi's left, though his comment went ignored. 

Luvine looked at them. She saw Metsumi cheering for her daughter, and she saw Satsuhiro wrapping an arm around Metsumi's back. 

As that scene played out in front of her, she felt something stirring in her heart, and she had a random thought. 

Why am I sad?

Without an answer to that question, she took a bite out of the small sandwich she'd been given. Currently, she was sitting on one of the stone benches, as Yumi and Sinneah fought in front of her. 

Luvine barely tasted the sandwich in her mouth. She'd learned not to focus on anything's flavor too much, and to just appreciate whatever she'd been given. Food was often scarce that way. 

Still, even though her stomach was filling up, and this place wasn't as uncomfortable as Onyx was, Luvine felt depressed, for some reason. 

"You're going to have to be faster than that!" Yumi said with a grin, in front of her, and Luvine looked up. She and Sinneah were fighting. The sounds from their battle, the grunts, the sliding of their feet along the stone floor, and Yumi's golden sword occasionally slamming against the ground, all reminded Luvine too much of the fighting at Onyx. 

As she sulked, Opah jogged up to where she was and sat down next to her. 

"La la la la la," Opah sang as she swung her feet back and forth. "Ohh, can I? Can I!?" Opah asked as she looked down at Luvine's sandwich. 

"Hm? Y-Yeah," Luvine replied and Opah didn't hesitate to take a bite. In the middle of chewing, she smiled widely at Luvine, showing off the food in her teeth. 

Luvine chuckled a little when she saw that and continued to watch the women in front of her. 

"Good, good," Yumi said as Sinneah threw a kick at her and she leaned to her left, moving out of the way. "But, try not to be so reactive. As we fight, you'll get used to me and my tactics. Let that happen, alright?" 

"I see," Sinneah nodded and the two continued as Keiko walked out from a door up ahead. 

She was carrying a few bottles of water in her arms, as she walked out toward where Luvine was. 

"Whoa," she said as Yumi and Sinneah briefly stopped fighting. "Let me pass, you workhorses," she chuckled, holding out two bottles for them. 

"Thank you, Keiko," Yumi told her while Sinneah just gave her a firm "hm". 

Once she'd handed those out, Keiko sat down by Luvine's right, and now, she was sandwiched between her and Opah. 

"Do you want any?" Keiko asked, holding out a bottle. 

"N-No..." Luvine shook her head. 

"Are you sure? It's good to wash your meal down," Keiko told her with a kind smile. 

"... Uh..." Luvine looked away, furrowing her brows. "Okay." 

"There you go!" Keiko said happily as she passed her a bottle. 

Luvine took it as Keiko offered Opah the last one she had in her hands, and the half-demon took a sip from it as she continued watching Yumi and Sinneah train. 

Above, the sun was beginning to fall out of sight. The night would soon settle in, highlighted by the twin moons, which were already visible. 

Luvine had a lot right now, that she had normally found herself wanting at Onyx. She had food, water, shelter, clothes. But, for some reason, she still felt down. 

That emotion, however, was suddenly interrupted when the door ahead opened again, and this time, it was another half-demon that walked out. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Ash muttered as she marched towards them. 

"Mooom, language!" Opah told Metsumi, pointing at the approaching half-demon. 

"Exactly! Don't talk like her," Metsumi said and Opah gave her a solemn nod. 

"How did it go?" Keiko asked beside Luvine, and she seemed curious. 

"Well," Ash said, as she kicked her boots off, "I just learned that mud is the absolute worst thing in the world. Aside from that, I'm cold, and, right, I couldn't find any dragons." 

Keiko was visibly saddened to hear that. 

"Sorry," Ash told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll try again tomorrow." 

"No, no, don't worry," Keiko said, smiling. "We have plenty of time." 

Then, for the first time since she'd arrived, Ash's gaze fell on Luvine. 

And, as soon as her violet eyes connected with Luvine's own, she felt a little better. 

"Luvine?" Ash said, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you okay?" 

"Hm? Y-Yeah," Luvine nodded. 

"You sure? You seem weird," Ash crouched in front of her. She poked the sandwich she had in her hands. "Hm, your food's gone cold." 

"Oh," Luvine said. 

"Yeah, oh," Ash echoed. "Come on, let's get you something fresh," Ash told her, gesturing for Luvine to follow. 

"Okay," Luvine quickly agreed. She hopped off the bench and looked up at Ash. The woman stood so much taller than her, that she had to turn her head all the way up to meet her eyes. 

"We'll be back in a bit," Ash told the others. "There's gotta be a chef around here somewhere." 

"Okay," Keiko replied. 

"Be careful," Satsuhiro called out. 

"Yeah, yeah. I know." 

With that, the two of them left the area. They walked around the Manor, catching the eyes of everyone who looked at them. They found one cook who Ash all but ordered to make them some scrambled eggs, and after that, the two of them were about to walk back, when Ash stopped. 

"Hm..." Ash hummed. 

"Huh?" Luvine looked up at her, holding her plate of scrambled eggs. Ash looked back down at her, before nodding to herself. 

"Come over here," Ash suddenly said, and they strayed away from the path back to the others. 

Instead, they walked out the Manor's front door, where the garden created a path leading to those two big knights who always stood outside, guarding the place. From here, they could see a bit of Amber, in front of them. 

Suddenly, Ash just sat down on the ground, sprawling her bare feet in front of her as she took a bite from her eggs. 

"Hm?" Luvine looked at her, confused. 

"Well?" Ash said. "What are you waiting for? Sit down." 

"O-Oh." As the door closed behind them Luvine sat down next to Ash, and the two started eating their eggs. 

It was a while before either of them said anything, but Luvine felt... alright. The sadness from earlier was fading, and now, all she could focus on were the eggs on her plate. 

"Sorry," Ash said, and she looked over at her. "But, sometimes... I don't know, I used to like looking for places where I could just be alone for a bit. You looked like you could use the same, back there." 

"..." Luvine looked down at her eggs, silently. 

"Have you been liking Amber?" Ash asked. 

"I... I don't know." 

"Yeah, I feel ya," Ash nodded. "You know... I..." Ash sighed then, as she continued. "A part of me almost misses Jade. Oh, right, sorry," she chuckled. "We've been together for a while now, so I forgot you don't know. I wasn't from Onyx, Lu. You know the last place we went to? The one with all those spotless white buildings? Yeah, I was from that place. I hated it. Still hate it, actually, but... After seeing all the other cities, I can definitely say it had its perks. At least there was way less mud, that's a plus." 

Luvine barely understood a word she said.

However, one thought popped up as Ash spoke. 

I like hearing her talk,  Luvine thought as she continued to listen. 

When they were done, they left their plates laying on the ground and walked back inside. 

And, the sense of melancholy Luvine had been carrying had just about evaporated by now.