Chapter 18 - 18: A retelling of Survival and *Hrk*

They fell for what felt like hours into the dark abyss of Cloud Veil Valley, but it was only a few minutes at most. The last thing they saw before falling into the valley, was the dense fog that perpetually covered the upper parts of it, serving as the valley's namesake. After that, darkness, *whap whap whap whap whap* and *thud*. The two were rendered unconscious until morning came, with the last thing they heard being the sound of their monsters returning to their respective drajules.

My father said that by some miracle, neither he or my mother got attacked in the night by any nocturnal majimonsters. My father woke up initially, trying to shake off the fog in his head. As his senses slowly came back to him, he felt a weight on his chest. He looked up and he, to quote *blech*, "And it is was there that I saw the most beautiful creature in all of the world".

He was mesmerized at such a beautiful woman laying on his chest...until it took him all of two seconds to realize it was his rival, my mother, laying on top of him. Evidently, it's a very confusing feeling to be attracted to someone who's suppose to be your lifelong nemesis/rival/someone who you are technically supposed to hate because of your family history. These ideas all faded when she started to stir.

Predictably, my mother freaked out about literally sleeping with her family's enemy and even accused my dad of doing something to her while she slept, which he didn't. ("Hah! Gotta love a good misunderstanding among young people", Voxea commented). She was going to summon one of her monsters out of spite and "trounce him for despoiling her honor", but thought against that once she realized they were in the middle of nowhere and had no additional supplies with them.

It is apparently a bad idea to keep majimonsters out of their drajules for two reasons. The first is that it's considered a logistical nightmare to cater to monster's dietary needs without proper supplies on hand. Secondly, summoning a majimonsters in the middle of the Wildlands regardless of the specific location is a surefire way to attract wild majimonsters to one's location. And so, she decided to storm off...well tried to.

Turns out falling from several dozen feet and hitting several tree branches at a bad angle can really mess up an ankle. My mom initially told my dad to go away and that she could handle it by herself. He didn't listen, instead he helped her walk.

When my mother asked why he would help her despite their checkered past, his exact reason was, and I quote, "I would be a right and proper bastard to leave a fellow human with a debilitating injury in the middle of the Wildlands, even if we're binders". My dad didn't know it then, but my mom had found that idea rather sweet.

The two of them ended up being in that valley for over three weeks, and as a result, grew closer. He nursed her back to health, they shared stories and realized they had more in common than they thought. They soon became acquaintances, friends and then...lovers. Apparently spending three weeks in the middle of nowhere with someone sun up to sun down can really bring two people together.

("It also probably helped that they found each other attractive"?

"I'd rather not think about that".

"Wait...did they...while they were..."

"Don't want to think about it".

"They totally did".

"ENDING THE STORY NOW".)