Ashes and Kingdoms

The dripping green, that's exactly what this is about.

Cestas thought that as he looked up at the blurry beauty of the trees. The weather is almost unchanged in this forest and the air is always moist and wet.

The ground and the trunks of the trees are fluffy and gentle covered in soft moss.

"Outside, the Winter Solstice Festival will be over."

Not talking, not talking to yourself. Mouth the words softly so that they flutter on this dense green air.

At the end of Sestas' gaze, Farnayne sat with her knees. I keep shaking my body slightly slowly as I look up at the universe to see if I see anything or nothing.

At its feet lay an empty plate and a bowl of water. There's the same thing on Cestas' knee. There were about ten steps between us, but it was only in the last few days that we got that close.

Farnayne still doesn't even try to see Cestas properly. But he seemed to be aware of his existence, and when he accidentally acted abruptly, his little shoulder trembled.

I haven't threatened you yet today. Cestas carefully placed the plate on the ground and continued to talk like a lullaby.

"I wonder if you've seen the Winter Solstice Festival. In the nactus, there's a big one in the square, and we're all gonna decorate it. Around that, singing and dancing,...... I also ate pistols. You know what? Fried treats with flour dough twisted. It's got a nice smelling powder on it and it tastes like honey."

The nostalgic flavour is vividly remembered and spits in my mouth. Sestas sounded very throat, embarrassed and gazed at Farnayne. The girl ignores him all the time, like that. But Sestas smiled relieved as the side staring at the universe seemed a little calm.

"... right. Winter often, my mother told me to talk to you before she went to bed, and I'll tell you one thing. On a snowy night, a frozen wild rabbit finds a small cave. It's warm and very cozy there, but there was one mean demon, who lived there..."

By the time Noragi had used his wits to do the demons and returned safely to the ravine, Farnayne had taken them to a mossy fallen tree, where they had wandered in abundance. It's not a boring story that invites drowsiness, but the content probably doesn't matter. The human voice, which I know is safe, continues calmly by my side, and that must have relieved the tension.

Noticing a small sleeping breath, Cestas glanced a little. Then I get stuck with myself, and, uh, I make a stretch.

I thought I'd get some sleep too, and when I rubbed my eyes, I noticed a shadow sneaking up on this one from the shadow of the bush. Taz.

As I said myself, he was always watching from a distance. That girl seems to be scared of adults, especially men - yes, the villagers told me he even considered dressing up as a woman in great seriousness, but Cestas and Nella stopped him and gave up.

The result is what Cestas is looking at right now. A funny disguise, with a wooden tooth leaf on the head.

(I don't know how serious you are)

Cestas got a frigid half-eye, and, uh, sighed. Are you serious about him, or is Sestas' - aka that girl's, trying to take a laugh?

Taz's "Dachi" and I must have had a hard time. Or is it a kind of friend?

Then I don't like it, and with all due respect, Cestas put his index finger on his lip and signaled, "Shh. Taz nodded at the sign of understanding, quietly, sneaking in without making any noise with the casserole either. And for the first time, I saw the face of a sleeping girl.

"-"

Surprisingly, I leaked my wheeze. It was really a slight, voiceless exhalation, but enough to wake the girl up.

Farnayne groans and gets up like she's been bounced. Taz flied out reflexively and captured the girl's arm.

A squeaky scream sounds like it's going to break my tympanic membrane. Cestas accidentally blocked his ears and then grabbed him suddenly by Taz.

"What are you doing, let go! You idiot!!

But in his power, Taz's skill doesn't end well. Taz held on tightly to the sobbing furnain, with Cestas in one hand.

"Listen, hey, you're the kid who was at Finn's!? It's Finn, Phineas! You don't remember?

If you lose the scream, Taz will raise his voice. He gets his face caught, his head's amniotic teeth ripped off with his hair, and his stomach fucked up with his little feet, but his arms don't loosen.

"Name... name, uh, fe... fa, yeah, farnein! Right, hey! Nellis, Finn, you were with me!? I'm a friend, I'm a friend of Finn's, so he said he wouldn't do anything!

There was no way the words were reaching my ears. Farnayne gets desperate, rambles, and keeps crying. When I realized it, even Cestas, we were together and crying.

"Stop it, if you let go! Stop it!!

I was beaten up, snapped and screamed at by both of us, and still Taz didn't let go of Farnayne. Now, if you let go of your hand, it's visible how deep down in the woods you'll get. I thought it was pathetic, but I could never forgive it.

To too much noise, Nella changes her blood phase and rushes. When she looked at the situation, she pulled Cestas away from Taz, not knowing the clear circumstances.

Farnayne, caught by Taz, is too violent to breathe and is cramped with red-faced tingles.

"Don't."

Nella glanced at him and took Farnayne from Taz's hand. Shortly after, Farnayne rounded her body and threw up everything she had eaten earlier.

"It's okay, it's okay"

Nella rubs her back while being gentle. Taz looked around hastily and offered to find that there was still water left in Sestas' jar. Nella will use it and wash Farnayne's mouth. Nella must have stared at Taz as she hugged the coughing girl.

"Why are you being so impotent?"

…………

Taz did not answer, exhaled deeply and knelt beside Farnayne. To the girl in agony, Taz reached for care, but gave up touching. Instead, lower your posture as much as you can and talk to him to plead.

"Farnayne. Wasn't it? Tell me your name, if it's different. What happened to Finn's guy? Nellis and Mr. Oandus, they lived together. You used to run a powder shop in Comrith. Why are you here? Hey, please, tell me. What happened to him?"

The questioning voice was gradually trembling, let alone, in pitiful tears.

Farnayne doesn't answer. I don't even stick to Nella, I circle my hands and feet to protect myself, I'm just getting as small as I can. Taz stared at it, silently waiting for a reply for a while, but the girl didn't even move to perfection.

Taz ate his teeth, and when he meditated his eyes all the time, he held his fist on the moss. Open your mouth and you will experience all sorts of thoughts that are likely to overflow, and you will rise quietly and return to the village. Sestas looked away with anger and humiliation.

Because of this, I could have walked this far. I pulled the girl's heart into her stubborn shell again. Cestas stared at Farnayne grunting in Nella's arms, running out of sorts. After Taz.

When she let her breath out and returned to the village, Sestas looked left and right and looked for Taz. And keep an eye on our home. The knitted book was shaking.

Stepping in roughly, Taz's back was right in front of him. Cestas waves his fist down at the mercy of anger.

"Oh my God, you idiot! Bastard! How dare...!

I cursed him with every word I could think of, but Taz didn't deal with him at all. That was the extra regret, and Sestas kicked Taz's leg out of his head. Taz sighs at the boulder and looks back. With that shape in his eyes, Sestas' anger disappeared as if he had been made to bathe in water. Instead, fear crawls up his spine, and his knees tease and tremble at will. He failed to retreat, and he wore a great buttcake.

Looking down at the frightening cestas, Taz was often silent. Then spit out one sinking sigh, deep and long, silent, and turn your back again.

"... what are you doing?"

Cestas stretched out as hard as he could and pushed the words out. Taz doesn't turn around.

"Evil. I'm leaving."

Farewell briefly told, without any explanation or precedent. Cestas couldn't understand it and was often stunned. In the meantime, Taz will finish packing.

That's how he tried to leave as he said without giving me a glimpse, so Cestas reflexively grabbed the package and pulled it off.

"What the fuck! You forced me to follow you, and now you're leaving all of a sudden!? What do you think people are, they're too selfish!!

"Oh. Bad on my own. But I can't relax."

Taz only turned his face and answered, as if to be stranger to others, pulling Sestas' hand off. Sestas went straight after Taz, who went outside with the lid.

"If you stay! Give me an explanation!

And suddenly Taz turned around and shouted to slap him.

"Dachi could die!

When Cestas was frightened by impatience, Taz tongued and dropped his gaze at himself for yelling. How many times, calm your mind with a rough sigh.

"... he's an orphan who was taken care of by my dachy... Phineas at Comris. I only met him once, but he was so cute I rarely saw him, I remember him so well. That means you're in a place like this."

The inhaled breath trembles and Taz bites off his back teeth without taking the word for it. Cestas was looking up at him stunned.

I never thought about it. That even the girl who ran into terrible eyes should have had parents and brothers and people to replace her in the outside world. What the hell does it mean that only one of those young girls runs this far?

"Damn..."

To Cestas, who leaked a blurred voice, Taz said for a few minutes, softening his tone.

"Anyway, it's safe here, and you have Nella, and it doesn't mean Nella has you. You were meant to hide yourself, so you should stay here. But I... I wanted to help you, and I just stuck around. If you're staying here, you don't need me anymore, do you?

Forced to make a laugh and sneeze Sestas' head off. No protest was raised.

"Finn's guy might be dying, 'cause he can't relax. His family's really good people, too. So... really, I'm sorry. Apologize to Farnayne."

Suspicious if you would understand, he added masochistically, and Taz walked back on his heels with a crease. No untrained or lost, exactly.

Sestas couldn't even curse him anymore. Stand on the spot with nothing to think about due to the shock.

- and.

"Wait, Mr. Taz"

Nella's voice, and they all turned around. Nera, returning alone from the back of the woods, looked in turn at Taz and Sestas and told them quietly.

"Your friend seems to have broken up with her."

"What... that kid, you talked to me S!?

"You mean talk, one word or two, though. I don't know, he said. Both Brother Finn and Sister are gone. I wasn't in a very good position to ask what exactly had happened... but she seemed to be alone for some time before she got here."

"Oh... let's..."

Taz snapped like he was relieved. Luggage drifts off his shoulders, making noises of docility. As if that were a signal, Taz himself sat down to the spot. I wasn't relieved, I was just a lost face. That makes me nervous and irritable again soon.

"No, but there's no way he's gonna leave that little girl alone."

Taz shook his head, figured if he didn't go, he just stood up again.

At that time, even Sestas was able to think of something decent.

"Wait."

Not an order, not a protest, but a calm tone, please. When Taz turned a suspicious eye, Sestas said straight back at that eye.

"I'm coming too."

"Huh!?

The position was completely reversed from time to time. To Taz, who turned back, Cestas repeated with an unswerving determination.

"I'm going, too. I wanted to help that kid, carry a meal every day... but I can't do that. I finally get it. Run away, if you're hiding, maybe one day the wound will heal. But by then, the people that she would like to see again... it might be too late. That doesn't make any sense."

Cestas was unconsciously thinking of her parents' faces.

Yes, if you keep hiding like this, there may not be a war, if it does, you may not have to know it. But then, I'm just saying that one of you won't get hurt.

The reason I ran away saying I didn't like the fight wasn't just because I was scared. Because I don't want to suffer my parents or the kind of people who kept me hidden in the Imperial Capital.

"I'm coming, too. So, uh, who's Phineas? Together, we'll find it. If you go back to Nakute and ask your mother and grandfather, you'll be able to use your manpower."

"Whoa, boy, you"

Taz leaves his mouth open as soon as he says so. Cestas didn't even make fun of that face and continued towards Nella.

"That kid...... was that Farnein? Did you calm down a little? Right. Well, I'll say goodbye when I take dinner. Can Nella pack? I'll look for Master Utier and ask for the rest. Besides, I need you to show me the way out to the north side of the woods, close to Nakhte. If she was in Comrith before, she'd come into the woods from the north side, so maybe she'll catch something."

Saying stiffness, he runs to the great tree in the middle of the village.

Taz dropped off his hindsight, and when he finally returned to me and blinked, from his half-open mouth, he leaked a distracted voice.

"Ha... Ha ha! Damn it, your boy suddenly grows up."

I shook my head with laughter and said, oops, and I glance at Nella. Of course Nella didn't blame her for being disrespectful. Returns a satisfying grin and nods, reverting to a touch of loneliness.

"Thanks to you and Farnayne. Excuse me, Mr. Taz, would you excuse me for a moment?"

"Oh, well, of course, I'll wait. I didn't know which way to get out of here."

He says it himself and smiles bitterly, and Taz scratches his head to deceive. Nella stepped aside and circled her eyes, then chuckled.

"Your friend is a reward for being so important."

"Come on, let's see."

Taz now smelled even lighter and deceived with a sarcastic grin.

"Whatever he is, my sister is cute, and my uncle and aunt are really nice people. He'll do something on his own, even if he's left alone, but something else."

I say it white and serious, Taz arms and so on, and one nods yeah yeah. Nella dared not to touch on 'your friend' any further, but only asked me, in a warm voice, to help her pack.

Nella twirls the green book and takes up her own luggage in an attempt to continue Taz as well. Then he lifted up his face, and looked up to the sky, which seemed slightly between the peripheries.

(Alive, right...?

You must be getting through this somehow, right? Lightly dead or something...

"... ugh!

It's not even an edge, it's not a joke, it's impossible. Taz shook his head hard to get rid of the ominous thoughts. But no matter how hopeful you are, there is no way to know the news.

Now, I just have to pray.

Taz made a sign of the goddess Audia with his fingers, crushing it against his forehead and not wishing for protection, as he had done well on board.

(Part II - Complete)