Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Da Doofus]

Once more, the black Archo looked at Kairo. His eyes always bore an intellect to them, but it was shrouded behind something primal that he possessed.

"Because I'm what you'd call paranoid." Was his answer.

"How bout you ask him the real question, Kairo?" Rufus said from across the hall, peering out from a moonlit window.
"Like why he put a bomb in the Noah? Or what he was doing on the Noah to begin with?"

Darrek stopped eating, and glanced between the three. The other Irokai glared at Rufus.

"I was there to see if you were a militant colony like the ones that landed in East Arvekii. I needed to know if you would be a threat to . . ." He paused. "If you would be a threat."

Rufus shot a glare back. "And the bomb?"

"To slow you down if I found your ship to be a weaponized one."

Rufus's body language softened briefly, as though a flash of understanding reached through to him.
"And what are we then? A threat?"

"Yours is meant for agriculture and settling, not invasion." The Feral responded. "So your people . . . No.

You? I'm unsure since you're here, and not still there." He squinted.

"I guess you hate humans too?"

The Feral was silent, save for a quiet sigh.
"I hate one of you."

 

[Chai_T3a]

One argument later, and Kairo quickly realized they were entering dangerous territory. Yet he wanted to press on. His interest was intrigued. What could he have meant when he said he hated one of them? There was only one way he’d be able to figure it out.

“I’d hate to pry. But who is it?” Kairo said, as seriously as he could.

 

[Da Doofus]

"Don't know his name." The Feral pet Frederick this time. "Only his scent and voice. I never found him though . . . Never will, after all this time; he's either dead or forever out of my reach."

Darrek raised a brow. "What did he do?" He asked, intrigued.

The Feral gave no vocal answer, he only continued to pet the critters and look on them warmly. Then he pointed to the disfiguring slash scar over his right eye, and then to his crooked jaw.

"Damn." Rufus admitted.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo cringed a bit, realizing the extent to of the damage this person had caused. He wondered if this was what caused his people to abandon him in the first place. He still remembered what Bom had told him. How everyone he knew thought of him as a walking ghost. Could this be what started it all?

No matter what it was, Kairo began to feel pretty intense disdain develop for the person who did this. He knew the history of his people in this new world was stained with blood, but this was the first signs he’d seen of that.

“That’s rough.” Kairo whispered sympathetically. Barely loud enough to be heard. “It’s hard to imagine...how cruel some people can be.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"You haven't a clue." The Feral growled, dark memories returning to his mind.

Frederick, as though sensing something troubling his guardian, looked up and made a soft purring sound. The Irokai nuzzled him with his snout.
"Khazi-ku, Frederick." He said. "Khazi-ku."

Rufus perked at the mention of the name.
"You're calling them by the names I gave them?"

"They stuck." The Feral said blankly.

 

[Chai_T3a]

A slightest of a smile graces Kairo’s face at the mention of the names. It was a far fetch from the Rufus and the Feral getting along, but at least they’d agreed on something.

“I was beginning to miss them.” Kairo said, watching the three critters. “

 

[Da Doofus]

The Feral said nothing, only continuing to give affection to his trio of small companions.

Darrek glanced and analyzed the creatures. "Never seen anything like those before."

"They're Nimps." The Feral said. "They live in mountains and the surrounding treelines. Not many left."

Darrek nodded. "I got to admit, it's very strange seeing you after hearing all the stories . . . And I see you just petting some little things and carrying on conversation." He shifted a glance at the small blood droplets on the floor.
"Thanks for saving my hide, by the way."

"Welcome." Was the other Irokai's answer.

Darrek groaned and readjusted his left shoulder from the lodged bullet. The Feral noticed.

"What's the matter?

"Oh." The younger shrugged. "Got shot and the damn bullet's stuck in there."

"It's still in there?" The Feral raised his voice. "Hold still." He moved from his spot, careful not to disturb the trio.

"Hey, I can take care of it later." Darrek tensed.

"Later is now." The Feral snapped, moving behind the Irokai. "Now hold still."

"Look, it's not a big-"

"Hold still and shut up." The red-eyed hermit curled his lip.

Intimidated, Darrek averted his gaze and kept still as the wild Irokai inspected the wound. Rufus watched with a raised brow.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the Feral’s sternness. Months ago, this would have been the last thing he would have expected the Irokai to do, but it didn’t seem that out of the ordinary anymore.

“So when’d you two start dating?” Kairo teased.

 

[Da Doofus]

Both Irokai glanced at him.

"What?" Darrek asked, clearly not knowing of the cultural term. The Feral only snorted at Kairo, not knowing either but picking up on his tone that it was meant as a slight insult.

His sharp claws reached into his pocket and withdrew a pair of metal tweezers.
"It's in your hide, so this won't be too difficult." He muttered.

"Just let me know before you-" Darrek began before letting out a pained bellow. Clearly the Feral's medical skills were to the point with no precaution to the patient.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo just rolled his eyes, letting the conversation topic go. He continued to down the soup in the meantime. At least that was until he could hear the pained bellow coming from Darrek. Kairo cringed a bit. Getting that bullet removed must have been lots of fun for the young irokai.

The medical procedure happening in front of him reminded Kairo of his own injuries. He quickly traced his scalp with his palm. The claw marks that had formed had long stopped bleeding, but a dull pain could still be felt. He really hoped that it wouldn’t leave a scar. As cool as it probably would have looked, maybe having it on his face wouldn’t be the most pleasant thing.

He continued to silently watch. Hoping that the Feral would be able to get the bullet out swiftly.

 

[Da Doofus]

The extraction did not take too long, so Darrek's pain was not severe. The Feral extraced the grape-sized metal ball stained with Darrek's blood and flicked it away.

"There." He huffed. "Done."

Darrek panted and put his hand on his now aching shoulder. "Ever heard of bedside manner?" He gritted his teeth.

"No." The Feral stood and walked toward the cooking fire.

"Well yours is shit." Darrek snorted.

The Feral stood near Kairo as he plucked up the last bowl. His claws were longer than Darrek's and still had traces of red on their sharp tips.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo caught a faint glimpse of the Feral’s claws. The bloodied tips reminding him of the battle that transcended not long ago. He was thankful that the Feral had taken them down for the group, but something still seemed to bother him about the situation. He looked out the window that the Feral had thrown their dead bodies.

“Hey. Question.” Kairo said. “Don’t know much about how you saurians work. But do you think Bazin’ll be able us here because of those two.” He pointed outside. “I’m guessing dead bodies kind of smell.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"No." The Feral answered quietly slurping up his bowl of stew with his mouth. "The scavengers will eat them before they even begin rotting.

Why I tossed them out. Better they be fed to the jungle outside rather than something coming in here to get to them."

"Takes a couple of days for carcasses to start stinking anyway, kid." Rufus added in, while at the same time enjoying the night sky.

 

[Chai_T3a]

The thought of decomposing bodies right outside was something Kairo definitely wanted to get out of his head. His face scrunched up a bit as the Feral and Rufus began getting into the specifics of it. “Oh.” He said, suddenly losing his appetite. “You guys know a lot about dead bodies I’ll give you that.” He joked.

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus made a face, and then shrugged. The Feral finished his bowl and set it by the fire.

"Death is part of life. Best to learn of it so you may better survive." He said as though quoting someone.

Darrek scoffed. "Sunshine and rainbows you guys are." He shook his head.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo nodded, agreeing, but only because he felt the need too. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to handle seeing a dead corpse, and he didn’t plan on having to do that. He could adapt to everything else in this world, just probably not that.

“Ehhh. I mean he’s probably right.” Kairo answered. “Hopefully it won’t have to come to that though.”

 

[Da Doofus]

The Feral stretched once more and curled up with his back to the fire.
"I'm resting now. You should too." He said with his eyes closed.

Darrek was about to protest the order, but a yawn crept across his snout.
"Ugh . . ." He groaned, the exhaustion of the day and remaining poison in his system taking its toll.

Rufus kept watch at the window, his life of practiced vigilance keeping the weariness at bay.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo watched as the two of them fell asleep. Maybe he should try to get some sleep too, but there was still the bowl of stew that he needed to tend to. Even if he lost his appetite, he wasn’t going to waste perfectly good food, especially when it was so hard to come by. Not wanting to disturb the other two. He picked up the bowl of stew and made his way towards Rufus, a yawn gracing his face as he made the short journey.

“Hey.” Kairo mumbled, sitting down next to him. He set the bowl down by the windowsill. “You not gonna sleep?”

 

[Da Doofus]

"I'll sleep when we get back to the inn." He answered. "I'm not taking any more chances out here, what happened earlier . . . That was too close."

Outside, the jungle night life squawked and trilled with various vocalizations of unknown animals. One sound was familiar however; the chirping of crickets. In this world of reborn prehistory, it was nice to see some creatures of the Old World survived all these years.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo nodded, understanding Rufus's sentiments. "Yeah. It's been a hell of a day."

There was a momentary pause after that. Kairo scooped a spoonful of the soup, casually chewing on a chunk of meat as he listened to the night outside. The various sounds of the Kaveran jungle made for very chaotic ambience. But from his position at the window, the sounds came from just far enough to blend into something peaceful and organized. He couldn't help but smile at recognizing the faint chirping of crickets mixed along with all the other foreign noises. Just like him and Rufus it was another sign that the legacy of the old world still remained.

"Weird how everything can feel so calm after all that ya know?"

 

[Da Doofus]

"Ups and downs, man. Ups and downs." Rufus shrugged, taking the bowl and sipping down a mouthful.

Behind them, Frederick, Ezekiel, and Lawrence were crawling down their former bed atop the furs and to their scarred guardian.
Frederick nestled into the Feral's neck, Ezekiel balled up next to his stomach, and Lawrence found comfort atop his crested head.

For a few seconds, the Irokai's red eye strained open at the sensation of the Nimp crawling on his head. It closed once the little mammal settled in. All four rested comfortably, with their quiet breaths overlapping the other.

Darrek however, had his mouth wide open in an audible snore.

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Eyyyuuup.” Kairo said, raising his arms in a stretch.

The sound of rustling would alert Kairo towards the Feral. He watched as the critters make themselves comfy next to the Irokai. He had to admit, it was kind of cute.

It seemed that Rufus on the other hand, wasn’t fond of the idea that the Feral was sleeping under the same roof as them.

“Speaking of everything that happened today.” He said, hushing his voice to a near whisper. “Are you okay with that.” He vaguely signalled at the Feral.

 

[Da Doofus]

"Define 'okay'." Rufus answered. "Because frankly I'm at a loss at how calm you are about having the same psychotic lizard that tried to kill us, and then use you as a hostage . . . In the same room with you." He eyed the Feral.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo sighed. He knew this was going to come up at some point. "Im not really sure to be honest." He admitted, gaze now back outside. "Him being here, it still bothers me a bit. There's time when I think that he's the only reason we're in this mess to begin with."

 

[Da Doofus]

"Probably because he is." Rufus pointed out. "And the fact that even the locals are scared of him; that doesn't set off any red flags?"