251 Expressing Emotions

Vy swiftly caught up with the herd. She flew overhead them, her looming shadow cast over the herd. The guard lephants took notice of her and started trumpeting. They were notifying the leaders of the herd who were travelling at the front. 

Vy flew ahead of the herd and placed the baby lephant gently down onto the sand before taking to her human form once more. Facing the herd head-on was not the smartest decision. But Vy felt that there was no other way for her to return the baby lephant to the herd. 

As they got closer and closer, Vy easily spotted the leader of the herd. She was the largest lephant out of all of them, with what seemed like a scar mark down her trunk. Vy placed her hand on the baby lephant, gently petting it. 

When the leader lephant was merely a few metres away from her when she lifted her trunk and trumpeted. Almost immediately, the entire herd came to a stop. Two male lephants with two sets of large sharpened tusks came forward. 

They stood guard beside the leader lephant. Lycster came up from behind and got off Nanma. He stood beside his sister, holding her hand tightly. The shadow of the lephants loomed over them, their majestic size would easily send shivers down anyone's spine. 

It would be a lie to say that Vy's heart was not palpitating at that moment. 

Was it palpitating because of fear or the adrenaline? Maybe both. She would never know for certain. The baby lephant struggled but soon it got up onto its feet and slowly lumbered over to its herd. 

After taking two steps forward, the lephant turned back around and lumbered back towards Vy. It stretched out its trunk but it was not long enough to hold onto Vy. Vy moved closer to the baby lephant. She got down on one knee to get closer to it.

The baby lephant curled its trunk around Vy's neck and shoulder. It tightened its grip a little, using its trunk to give her a hug. Upon releasing her moment later, it trumpeted softly as if saying a word of thanks. 

Vy smiled warmly. She patted the lephant on its trunk. After that, it embraced Lycster in the same way. Once it had expressed its gratitude to both of them, the lephant turned back to reunite with its herd. 

After it disappeared behind the guard lephant, Vy turned her attention back to the leader lephant. She looked deep into its eyes. The Leader lephant had bright orange coloured pupils, like the colour of bright orange topaz. Vy could feel as if the leader was trying to convey a message.

She was trying to thank her for returning a member of her herd back to them. But Vy could not be certain. The leader lephant moved a few steps forward and rested it's trunk gently on Vy's head for a few seconds. 

They were collectively expressing their gratitude to Vyrena and Lycster. The trumpeting startled their desert deers but Vy and Lycster managed to calm them down swiftly. As soon as the leader lephant lowered her trunk, her herd followed. 

After one more shared look at one another, the leader lephant began to move, leading her herd to continue on their journey. Vy and Lycster got onto their desert deers and steered clear of the lephants' way. 

They kept their distance as they watched the majestic herd continue on their journey. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Vy was pleasantly surprised to find that despite the lephants' size and strength, they were not violent creatures. 

"I wonder where they are headed," Lycster commented as he watched them travelling through the sand, kicking up clouds of sand as they went. 

Vy consulted the map they had, along with a book with some information on the lephants she had. Reading through all the material, she came to a conclusion.

"The lephants are nomadic. They don't have a permanent home."

"Nomadic? So they travel from place to place, never staying somewhere for long?"

"Pretty much. It says here they also have a really good memory."

Lycster was intrigued, "Good memory?"

Vy nodded as she read the explanation as she traced the words on the page with her finger, "It says here they don't forget easily. Which helps them to remember the routes they travel. While they are nomadic, they usually go about a set course."

Lycster looked out into the distance as the herd travelled further and further away from them. He wondered if the baby lephant would ever remember them if they ever met in the future. 

"We are like them in a way, aren't we? Travelling from place to place." Lycster realised. 

Vy agreed, "I guess you're right. We do have a permanent home though. And I am not referring to our house in Timbretune or the Prism Sector."

"What do you mean?"

Vy rode her desert deer closer to her brother. With a huge grin on her face, she explained, "Home is in your heart. Wherever you feel comfortable, or when you're with the people you cherish and love; you're home."

She placed her hand on her heart, then on her brother's. Lycster beamed with a smile too.

"Sis,"

"Hmm?"

"What do you want to do after the quests are complete?" 

Vy had not thought about that far. She did not have anything in particular planned for what happens afterwards. Vy placed her hand on the necklace around her neck. Maybe she could go search for the other half of the necklace. 

The person who owned it might hold answers to her past. Her life in Gaeia was filled with excitement, danger, happiness and sorrow. She would not trade it away for anything else. But there were things she wanted to know. 

"Maybe I will go and find out where the other half of my necklace is," she replied. 

"Can I go with you?" Lycster asked. 

"Of course you can!" Vy replied with a smile before she joked,"Where else would you go?" 

Lycster pouted, folding his arms, "I have placed to be, people who need me.'

Vy played along, she also pouted, "But I need you by my side."