Chapter 228: Decision..But...
It was night, and Little Black still hadn’t eaten at all. He was sitting alone by the waterside, sitting on a rock while staring into the running water that reflected the full moon above. He hugged both his feet while he sat there quietly and stared down into the water.
Sunnie soon arrived with a plate of food. She smiled as she sat down beside him. She stared at him with a smile as she said, "You should have something to eat. At least eat something so you can be mad effectively." She smiled as she handed him the meal.
"I’m not hungry," he grumbled, but Sunnie smiled.
"I know you’re lying. This is your favorite, so take it." She insisted as she successfully handed it to him. Little Black took it and casually stared at the meal before him.
"Our little Cloudy should eat well if he wants to grow and be healthy, you know." She was sitting beside him on the rock.
"That’s not my name..." He muttered as he slowly ate.
"I guess you don’t want to remember anything from your past, so you said you had no name and had me give you a name. Is that so?" She smiled at him.
"I didn’t ask you for a name, though..." He murmured as he continued eating. Sunnie could see that he was already enjoying the meal.
"You little rascal. Okay, whatever. I’ll just call you Little Black. I’m already used to it by now." She smiled as she stared into the water with him. The two of them were quiet for a while before Sunnie said, "You know you don’t have to forgive them if you don’t want to, right?"
She added, "And you certainly don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Okay?"
He was quiet as she sighed while adding, "It’s just that simple. So don’t complicate it. Take your time to heal. Take your sweet time."
He was quiet while still staring through the water. "Do you think Dad and Mum would forgive them? If it was Mum and Dad, do you think they would forgive and go save them?"
Sunnie smiled at him as she ran her hands through his hair and ears. "They’re them, and you’re you. So you should follow your heart... if you want to, then sure, that’s nice. If you don’t want to, then you could take your time."
She sighed as she stared into thin air and then said, "But remember, don’t make the innocent suffer for it."
Silence filled the space between them as they sat there staring into the darkness. Little Black had a lot running through his mind at the moment while he stared at the scene before him, eating while also thinking.
He was thinking about what August had said while also coming to terms with what had really happened. Sunnie sat closely beside him, quietly keeping him company.
The next day, Little Black finally decided that they should go and save them from the predator beastmen.
---
While everyone was up and working the next morning, Little Black suddenly rushed out of his little home and came to meet them all to announce.
"I’ve already made up my mind—let’s go and save them. Let’s go and see what’s wrong in my tribe," he said.
Sunnie, who was sitting closely with Zuna, casually smiled.
"That’s cute," Sunnie and Zuna agreed.
"So, are we leaving now, or?" Karl asked, arms folded and ready for action.
"You always want to fight," Luka teased.
"Let’s leave now," Little Black said.
But just then, someone rushed into their compound—another unfamiliar face, another rabbit with brown hair and ears, one who clearly wasn’t August.
He was bruised and bleeding all over as he rushed into the compound, panting as everyone paused and stared at him.
Little Black approached. "What is it? What happened?"
The young man panted as he stared up at them. "August... August..." He was panting so much that he couldn’t bring himself to speak properly.
"Calm down and speak to us... what’s wrong?" Sunnie inquired.
They calmed him down for a while before he was actually able to speak words. "August... is dead."
The announcement was fatal. His words cut through like a knife through the air and stabbed through the atmosphere, hitting Little Black hard.
Little Black gasped as he staggered backward; Zukka held him firm. "No..." Little Black shook his head. He couldn’t believe his ears—he simply couldn’t believe what he heard at all. He couldn’t.
The man explained further. He explained how some predator beastmen had attacked them late that night, and August and some other men left to protect the people and drive them away.
But just that morning, they were found dead.
Tears rolled down Little Black’s eyes. His mouth was open, but words just weren’t coming out. He didn’t even know what to say but only let tears roll along with the memories that came with it.
He recalled his childhood moments with August. They were really young back then, but he still recalled some memories vividly.
Memories of them playing together happily in the grass and woods. Memories of them causing chaos and havoc in the tribe together and always getting in trouble. Memories of Little Black getting sick and August staying by his side all night. Memories of them promising to always stay together till the end.
All those memories made him tear up more as he gasped. He couldn’t believe that it was all over—August was no more.
Sunnie and the rest stared at Little Black, studying his reaction as Sunnie slowly walked up to him and held him closely. "Are you okay...?"
But Little Black hesitated and then said, "No... I’m not okay. I’m not okay at all." His eyes were red and tears running down them. That was the saddest they had seen Little Black.
At that moment, Little Black turned to Sunnie and said, "I want to ask you for a favor. Let’s go and destroy every single predator beastmen there. Every single one of them."