Opening his eyes, what greeted Magna were a pair of sapphire eyes and a golden tail. Smiling, Magna muttered, "How long?"Before Luna could speak, Argo"s voice silently said, "20 minutes. You alright to move?"
Ignoring the pouting child infront of him, Magna looked towards Argo, who had turned back to him now that she knew he was awake, and gave her a nod as he said, "Fully rested and ready to move."
Receiving a nod back, Argo made some room on the branch as everyone had piled up near the trunk. The trio quickly jumped down and cautiously started traveling back to the ruins.
On the way back, the sisters would occasionally stop as they would hear different sounds coming from the path ahead. While it wasn"t as bad as before, the girls would tremble slightly before deciding on taking another path.
Thanks to the detours, it took them almost 40 minutes to get back. Immediately, Argo took the sack that was filled with their game and said, "I"ll move away from the ruins and prepare the meat. Luna, I need you and Magna to gather stones and wood for a fire."
Giving her a nod, Magna watched her back slowly disappear into the forest. As worried as he was, he merely sighed before following Luna to gather stones and wood for a fire.
Luckily, Luna was pretty familiar with the process as she speedily ran around the forest floor gathering wood. Taking it upon himself to gather stones, Magna quickly formed a large pile.
After a couple minutes, Luna came back with a large bundle of sticks in her arms. She smiled happily as she said, "Come on Magna! Grab as many as you can and follow me!"
With a wry smile, Magna loaded his pockets with a couple rocks before using his shirt as a basket, carrying the rest of them.
As the pair slowly walked back, Luna suddenly asked, "Magna, do you think I"m holding my sister back?"
Taken back, Magna abruptly stopped as he replied, "I don"t think so. Then again, I"ve only known you guys for a couple hours sooooo..."
Luna"s tail slowly dropped down to the ground as she said in a low tone, "Ever since we escaped, I"ve only been dragging her down. Not only has she been gathering food for the both of us but she usually goes days without sleep, just to make sure that we"re safe."
Stunned, Magna could only stand in silence. He never could have guessed that the little ball of sunshine and happiness that was Luna could be hiding this much pain. From the way her voice p.r.o.nounced every word to the way her body moved, he could tell that this was eating at her.
Without any other option, Magna freed one of his hands from holding the rocks and started patting her head. Luna seemed embarra.s.sed as she blushed while withering around under his palm. Slapping his hand away, Luna pouted as she said, "I"m being serious! I"m sure I"m nothing more than a burden to h-"
Before she could finish, Magna kissed her forehead. Her entire face turned red as steam seemed to formed around her ears. Releasing a chuckle, Magna gently ruffled her hair and said with a smile, "That"s impossible. I can tell that your sister loves and cares for you very much. That"s why, don"t ever call yourself a burden."
Looking at his gentle smile and feeling the warmth from his hands, Luna trembled as tears gathered in her eyes. Giving her best smile, Luna heavily rubbed against his hand as a quiet, "Wurr~" escaped her lips.
Magna internally screamed about the ball of cuteness in his hands but didn"t forget where he was or why he was out here. After half a minute, Magna stopped patting her, much to her dissatisfaction, and continued carrying the stones to the ruins.
Luna"s quickly followed after him with her tail wagging behind her. After talking to Magna, she felt… better. As if a weight was taken from her shoulders. While some weight still remained, it got just a bit more bearable.
Final arriving at the ruins, Magna lightly smiles as he sees Argo walking into camp carrying the now skinned and drained rabbits. It wasn"t long before the trio had set up a fire and began roasting the meat.
As the sun slowly started to set, the trio happily sat around the camp fire while enjoying roasted meat and the company. Suddenly, Argo"s entire body leaped towards Magna and Luna as razor sharp feathers impaled where she was sitting.
An intense glow appeared in her eyes as she screamed, "RUN!!!"
Not wasting any time, Magna grabbed Luna, who appeared to be in a daze, and began chasing behind Argo. Feathers kept appearing seemingly out of nowhere, almost hitting Magna and Luna a number of times. Luckily, Magna was starting to adapt to his new found ability, the body flicker technique. Just before any attack even got close, his body would blink out of existence before appearing just a few feat away.
While this ability is quite taxing in the stamina department, when used in small bursts to travel small distances, Magna was confident he could do this for hours. The only problem he was having was the fact that he couldn"t control the exact distant he would travel.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!"
Suddenly, a blood curdling screams rang through the forest. Magna came to an abrupt halt as he stared in shook at the sight before him. In the claws of a familiar Nevermore was Argo. Blood stained her new clothes as the glow in her eyes dimmed quickly.
*Badump*
A powerful pain started to spread through Magna"s stomach as a suffocating pressure started weighing down on him.
*Badump*
The pain seemed to grow and spread endlessly as his breathing became rough and ragged.
*Badump*
Low growls escaped his lips as the sound of bones cracking echoed from Magna"s body. The world around him slowly seemed to fade into black and white as he slowly lost his hearing to a loud ringing noise.
A bubbling sensation started to appear all over his body as Magna fell to the floor gritting his teeth. Luna"s hoa.r.s.e voice screamed to her sister, over and over again, not witnessing the birth of a monster behind her.
In a fit of anger, Magna reared his head towards the sky and released a terrifying roared filled with hatred, causing Luna to faint and the Nevermore to drop Argo as it tried to distance itself from Magna.
Just before she hit the ground, Magna appeared next to her and easily caught her before flickering back to where he stood, looking as if he hadn"t moved at all. Laying her next to her unconscious sister, a red aura oozed from his body as he painfully muttered, "I"ll… f.u.c.king… KILL YOU!!!"