Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo greeted the Feral as they got closer to the rest, giving the Irokai a small wave. But the Feral was the least on his mind at the moment. They’d finally gotten to the rest! He’d probably done more walking the past few days then he had in his life. And for that, the familiar wooden rest looked more like a 5-star hotel than its modest reality.

“Think Cräga will be surprised to see us back this soon?” Kairo turned, facing Rufus.

 

[Da Doofus]

Darrek entered first, leaving the Feral to silently watch the two humans by the door.

Rufus stopped next to Kairo and stretched.
"Don't know. Don't really care." He admitted. "All I know is: Darrek's buying breakfast."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo could feel the Feral’s eyes on the two of them. It made him slightly uncomfortable, considering how the Irokai wasn’t making any initiative for conversation. Might as well pretend he didn’t notice then.

“Mmmm we really lucked out having him didn’t we?” Kairo said, opening the door to the rest and heading in.

 

[Da Doofus]

The Rest was in a busy state. Vindav hunters and gatherers were scattered about enjoying a breakfast of roasted meat and leafy greens boiled in a vinegar-scented broth.
They all fell silent when Darrek entered, but returned to their meal shortly after and chatted in their native tongue.
When Kairo and Rufus followed after, no noticeable reactions were given. Cräga had her back turned tending to the cooking fires, and Crina was sitting at the bar sipping a morning drink.

 

[Chai_T3a]

The rest remained unchanged from the time they were away. Still as lively as ever, maybe even more so then last night. It was definitely a good day for business, something Kairo was definitely happy about.

Cräga seemed busy as ever, then again, when was she not? Crina on the other hand, seemed to be quite the opposite. It really did fit their personality’s well. He made a beeline for the bar.

“Hey. Look who’s back.” He asked Crina, sitting next to her. He made sure to save 2 spots beside for Darrek and Rufus. “Miss us?”

 

[Da Doofus]

The blonde smiled, and Rufus quickly sat next to Kairo.
"Didn't expect you two back so quickly." She said.

Darrek crept behind Crina and tapped her left shoulder with his tail, smirking all the while.
She glanced to her left as Darrek slid to her right, and leaned his head between Kairo and her.

She glanced back and saw the young Irokai.

"DARREK!" She screamed excitedly, hopping up to hug his neck.
Her sister stopped working at Crina's outburst and turned to see the three.
"Oh it's you tw- Darrek?" She gasped, and smiled. "Holy Kavera, when did you get back?!"

Rufus leaned to Kairo.
"She's smiling." He whispered. "I'm scared." He joked, but was warmed by the apparent reunion.

 

[Chai_T3a]

The reunion was uplifting, and Kairo couldn’t help but beam seeing how happy everyone was. He didn’t know that the three of them had been this close. Undoubtedly it was cute.

“Pffft.” Kairo snickered, trying to hold back his laughter at Rufus’s joke. “Where was my hug when you found me at red teams camp?” He teased.

 

[Da Doofus]

"Well I didn't string you upside down that time." Rufus quipped, elbowing Kairo. "That count?"

The door opened once more, and the Feral entered. The Vindav stopped in their eating to gawk at the scarred Archo.

"Taroz-Gharm." Many whispered as he passed across the main room.

"Taroz-Gharm."

"Taroz-Gharm."

A few of the small Archos left the inn behind the Feral, clearly frightened by his presence; their superstition of him getting the best of them.

Cräga watched as the charcoal Irokai approached the bar and sat four seats down from Kairo and Rufus.

"Dracon?" The older sister questioned. "You're not wearing the robes this time?"

"Don't feel like hiding right now." He answered, relaxing in the seat and resting his arms and head on the table.
"They've been through a lot on the way here; could use a meal."

"Where did those claw marks come from?" Cräga inquired, seeing the dried blood on his back.
When he was silent, she grew sterner.
"Dracon?"

"Two Vindav attacked the boy. I was nearby and intervened."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo eyes perked up at the mention of a name. He’d wanted to know for more than a little while what it was. It was a small win, and yet he couldn’t help but let out a small, inaudible cheer.

Internally victorious, he decided to join the conversation. ’“Intervened was an understatement.” Kairo pitched in. “He pretty much saved our lives back there.”

 

[Da Doofus]

Dracon grunted. "Seems I did." He admitted. "After that, I saw we were all heading back here so I made sure they didn't get themselves killed."

Darrek and Crina were glancing between Cräga and Dracon simultaneously.

"Sorry." Darrek raised a hand. "Thanks for saving my hide, by the way. But . . . Cräga . . ."

"How do you know Taroz-Gharm?" Crina finished the Irokai's sentence.

"Don't call me that." Dracon made a sideways glare at the blonde.

Clearly, the sister and the silver Archo were not aware of Cräga's acquaintanceship with the scarred hermit.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo perked his eyebrows. So Crina didn’t know either? Thinking back to it, he’d only seen Cräga interacting with Dracon, so it was possible. But he’d expected her sister to have caught on at some point. That though wasn’t the real question at hand. How did Cräga know this irokai? Especially when he was supposed to be a hermit? It intrigued Kairo and he listened in for the answer.

 

[Da Doofus]

"Small town in small territory." Dracon answered Crina. "Most everyone knows everyone."

"Then why have I never met you before?" Crina quipped quickly.

He looked at her.
"I'm not very social."

Cräga kept quiet, and Rufus was digging through his backpack.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo rolled his eyes. Dracon really chose to be as vague as he possibly could be huh? Whatever reason why he was trying to keep it to himself, Kairo wanted to know.

“Specifics?” Kairo asked. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea to push like he was. “Or am I pushing it?”

 

[Da Doofus]

"Not your business, seeing that you'll be passing through, yes?" He eyed Kairo.
Rufus only let out a chuckle as he continued to search his bag.
"Tired of us already? Here I thought we was becoming buddies."

Dracon frowned, but his scarred lip gave him a permanent illusion of a snarl. "Wrong. What are you rifling about for in there?"

"Some painkillers." Rufus said. "Getting shot at and poisoned tends to leave a fella a bit sore in the joints."

Cräga looked at her sister. "Crina, you and Darrek can sit by the window table." She pointed to an empty table. "Darrek, help yourself to some stew."

The young Irokai nodded, and set down the stolen coin purse. "This is to cover whatever these guys order." He said just before moving behind the counter to the kitchen.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo looked at the coin purse that had just been set down on the table. It was at that moment that he realized he had no clue how money worked in this world. He could try asking someone, but that'd risk exposing his and Rufus's identity to even more people. Besides, It didn't seem like Cräga would be the type of person to scam them. He trusted her enough to not do that.

His faith in Cräga established, Kairo turned to the woman in question. "Speaking of that, it'd be great if we could have a room for the night. We'll take 2 bowls of that stew as well." He looked back at Rufus. "Mmmmm...maybe some of that red drink that we had yesterday too."

 

[Da Doofus]

"Out of the Ka-Sib." Cräga pointed behind her. "I got Yupana juice and some water with your pick of flavoring.
All in all, that'll run you about thirty bits." She picked up the coin purse and jingled it.
"This feels close to it." The purse was tucked away behind the counter, and the woman turned to get some bowls.

Dracon eyed the two as she left.
"Just so you know," he said to Rufus. "Harass her again, and you'll deal with me."

Rufus looked at him sternly. "Didn't work out last time, did it?" He referred to their first encounter.

"Your attempt at courting? No it didn't." Dracon huffed, shifting the reference to the other night.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Welp, there goes all their monetary funds. A whole day of busting their asses and risking their lives, for some food and a room. He couldn't help but to sigh to himself at that. To be fair, it wasn't quite anyone's fault that that was the case. In fact, he was grateful that they'd have the money to be able to do anything to begin with. This courier thing wasn't a stable job, that was for sure.

He bid good-bye to the coin purse. Not aloud cause that would have been super fucking weird, before swivelling around to face Dracon and Rufus. Dracon's warning quickly made Kairo remember that the Irokai was there to see everything. The thought that Dracon had been there to see Rufus get his ass handed to him was equally amusing and terrifying. Kairo found himself putting a hand on his mouth. Trying to hold back his laughter.

"Sorry." He seethed, a few chuckles slipping out. "Just...the fact that you saw THAT. It's funny."

 

[Da Doofus]

Dracon kept his frown, and Rufus's glare could be felt upon the back of Kairo's head.

"You two will be leaving soon, yes?" Dracon said, standing up and heading for the stairs.

Rufus chuckled. "Hey we may just stick around for the holidays." He smiled and patted on the Irokai's cloaked shoulder.

The scarred Archo snarled and spun around. In the blink of an eye, he had a grip on Rufus's throat and was holding him off of the ground. The stool the man was sitting on was knocked to the floor. Dracon's teeth were bared in an open mouth snarl, his pupils were vertical slits and further expressed the wild temper in his eyes.

"Dracon!" Cräga scolded from the kitchen, Darrek standing next to her with an expression of fear on his face.

Hearing her voice, he glanced across the way to see Cräga and Darrek. Once he saw the younger Irokai's expression, his snarl vanished and his grip loosened. Dracon stepped away from the gasping human and snorted at Kairo before retreating upstairs. His body language could have been interpreted as a sort of remorse.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo's suppressed laughter didn't last long, as the shock of seeing Rufus being held by Dracon started to kick in. Rufus's pat didn't seem aggressive, not even in the slightest. Instead, it almost seemed friendly, and Kairo had originally been hopeful that the man was open to the possibility of getting to know the Irokai. But that hope was quickly flipped on its head as said Irokai literally grabbed the man by the neck and hoisted him in the air. Maybe Rufus was right. Dracon wasn't just someone he could trust so easily.

Kairo again, could only watch as everything happened.

The brief moment seemed to feel like forever, and when Cräga had finally called it off, Kairo couldn't be any more relieved. When Dracon past Kairo, he realized his fear had spiked. It'd been a while since he'd been so intimidated by him.

Kairo ran over to Rufus, crouching down next to him. "Rufus. Fuck." He blurted, at a lack of words. He remained close, not entirely sure what to do or say. "Your neck. Is it okay?"

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus hacked and gripped his neck.
"It's fine." He inhaled. "Just need to catch my breath."

Crina rushed over to help the man up alongside Kairo. Darrek's head peeked over the counter curiously.

"He ok?" He asked.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo carefully grabbed Rufus's arm and draped it over his shoulder to help the man up, guiding him back to the stool.

"Yeah I think so." Kairo said, looking at Rufus's neck. "I don't think I see any kind of bruising. At least for now." He sighed, before facing Cräga. She was the one who knew Dracon the most, hopefully she could help explain something. "Not to sound rude or anything, but why the hell did he do that?" Kairo asked. "Rufus didn't do anything to provoke him."

 

[Da Doofus]

Cräga seemed hesitant to answer.
"He's Feral. Think of how often he's had someone touch him without the intent to kill him." She explained. "It was more a reflex than anything."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo logically understood, and yet couldn't completely forgive him. Cräga was probably right, but seeing Dracon choking someone he truly cared about wasn't something that his mind could just let go off.

He sighed to himself. "I feel like I should be more pissed off." He said, heading to grab him and Rufus a drink.

 

[Da Doofus]

"I wouldn't blame you." Cräga sighed, sliding two mugs made of purified wood toward the two and getting a pair of bottles from the shelf.
"Water or Yupana?" She asked.

Dracon returned to his upstairs room, and the other customers of Traveler's Rest returned to sipping drinks and quietly conversing.
Darrek and Crina were talking by the window. The bar was devoid of users aside from the three humans.

 

[Chai_T3a]

“I’ll just stick with water, thanks.” Kairo answered, stopping the mug with his hand. Seeing as they were being hunted, it was probably best to stay sober and alert for now. Last thing he needed was to be intoxicated or hungover if Bazin and his cronies found them.