"Do you think we should talk with him at some point?" Eraanel wanted to know from his sister, his right eye still missing, the complexity of regenerating the missing eye beyond him.
"There will be talk once we're safe; we should focus on the road and what lies ahead." Felemous responded instead. "I'm personally worried about the 'forest.' When we started to see glimpses of it, two suns after we left, it kept growing. Just how tall are these 'trees'?" he added, his face concerned with the view ahead.
The Gargantuan Forest's trees seemed as if they wanted to reach for the skies, their height half that of some mountains. From a sun away distance, no sounds could be heard, but the occasional mist could be seen up in the branches of the trees, some shadows moving with it. Whether those were simply the branches or something else, they couldn't tell, but standing outside exposed like this was no good. Out of the two hundred gravely wounded, another hundred died. The cause was the cold. While there were fewer storms over here in the Frozen Side, it wasn't named like that for nothing. The temperatures at night dropped so low you could see and hear rocks cracking. Those were called crackling rocks, as they would slightly crack by night, making these strange symphonies. Then they would warm up a bit in the morning, water droplets getting through the small cracks, causing more small cracks by night. It wasn't observed or known how these rocks don't shatter to pieces, but it's suggested that the water surrounding this piece of land they were at contained a large amount of minerals that would rebuild the rocks as or faster than the rocks from the bottom up. This gave the Lightborn the proper idea to name this portion of the Frozen Side, further East from the Frozen Passage, the Crackling Fields. Unbeknownst to the Lightborn, these rocks weren't cracking; they had a conductive metal inside of them. The sound that was akin to cracking was electricity surging through and jumping between the metal contained, something which only happened as a warning.
"I will talk with him. You two, keep leading them forward. Tell me if you notice anything strange or different." Manna said, her eye brimming with light, as she carried the remaining hundred wounded between her siblings through wind cushions, who aided them however they could. Her wind manipulation, although far from graceful, was much stronger and able now that she had all these lights attached to her. Manna then looked for Orvus, from her viewpoint noticing him at the very back, whispering to himself and seeing him, at times, walking between the wounded. She wanted to hate him, but looking at him concerned with the wounded sat between her hate and pity. He made a grave mistake, hundreds paying with their lives as a cost; he also ran away without looking back. Yet, because it was her brother, she wanted to forgive him. She was now looking for reasons to do so, although she couldn't find any. So, she decided to make some.
Manna sighed to herself, then approached him, her twin-pointed spear now too small for her large stature in her left hand. "Orvus." she said in a commanding tone, sitting at his right, which he either didn't notice or didn't want to show that he did, as he kept looking down and whispering to himself. "Do you really not have anything to say? After all that happened?" she looked at him, in her mind trying to hate him, her face betraying those feelings, with a look of pity and sorrow.
Orvus stopped his whispering. He listened to every word she said, then looked up at her, he'd been crying all this time, his eyes filled with grief. "What can I say, sister? That I'm weak? A coward for running? Damned forever to bear the weight of those we lost?" he sobbed, clenching at his chest. "I don't know what to say, I don't think that anything I say will make my mistake any less atrocious. I-I thought ever since we started crossing the Frozen Passage that you were right, that we should have returned to the Link and followed Kilon. After I ran away, I started to think of all the ways I could have done better, and yet again, you came to mind. My only solution was to run away, your solution was to try to lead the monster away, even though neither was successful. At least yours probably saved the rest. Truth is, I don't own the answers, because I find them only when I look at you. I just didn't have the guts to tell you." he confessed. His eyes frowned in pain, looking for forgiveness from his sister.
She never understood him fully. What he thought, the way he thought. When he ran away, she could only think of why he did it; her commands and orders followed the most basic thought process. She didn't think of herself as their savior, because she also thought of the ways she could've done better. Kilon came into her mind every time. When he appeared in her mind, Kilon stood there fighting the monster, knowing that it had been following them for days. The only and best option for him would've been to use the full force of all their siblings. Something which was enforced on her through her siblings' deaths. They both lacked a leader's qualities. Orvus ran away when confronted with a large issue, while Manna tried to minimize losses without thinking with all the power at her disposal in mind. But in this scenario, Orvus was the one taking all the blame. He was the coward that ran, Manna getting the praise, as she was the one who stood behind.
She looked at him, her hand almost touching his shoulder, but stopping right before it could, retreating to her side. She wanted to hug him, apologize for some wrong neither did. They simply did what their impulses told them, not thinking of the larger picture. Now it was too late though. The sins of their dead siblings weighed heavily on both of them, Manna with the lights forever attached to her, Orvus with the screams and gruesome view of hundreds of wounded and dead before him, repeating again and again.
"If you want to at least try making things right, how about you start with our siblings that are still living?" she proposed, her voice a bit tender now. "I'm not as smart as you are, so there must be some things you can do to help our siblings, aren't there?" Manna asked, giving him some glimmer of hope for redemption.
"There is, but I'm not sure anymore. I understand their suffering to a minuscule degree. The process of healing our wounds is done through the light we possess, letting it apply to injuries inflicted upon us is natural to us. But for some, it's easier than it is for others, there is a reason for that, as some are better at coursing their lights through their bodies. I, for one, am not on the same level as those who are more able. So, I compensated for it by being able to manipulate the light, effectively boosting the regenerating factor and even commanding it to some degree where it should heal. It's a similar process to what those capable are doing, so I could, for instance, take over one's light and heal them in their stead. Fixing it would only take time, yet I can no longer be sure if I can be of use to anyone." he replied, glimpses of ideas on how to help their siblings shining through, his mind still showing the intelligence he possessed, but the screams in his head making every word cautious and uncertain.
"Why not just do it?" a foolish, yet simple question she would ask him as before, questions which often helped him get out of his complicated thoughts. This time, however, it didn't budge him. He was barely ready to speak, let alone do something, or anything, of which he would be unsure all along the way.
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"Just doing it is not enough. If I had time and a proper environment, I could get certain results. As it stands, moving around and them being in their precarious state are risks added to it. I can't just do it when..." Before he could finish, Manna slapped him across his head. He felt a surge of anger and frustration within him. "What was that for?! Do you not care for what I have to say, you damned sister?" his personality shining through amidst his sorrow and sadness.
"You annoy me, talking about all the dangers and whatnots." she said in a serious yet playful tone. Her surface intentions showing through. Those being that he had to get over it and help those who needed his help. While the underlying intentions, unseen by the grieving, now angry Lightborn, were that she needed him. The knowledge of the forest ahead, her siblings, none of whom knew how to heal others like he did, as well as his capacity to learn at a fast rate. Those were all things which Orvus still had above anyone and were highly needed. Now that she was the leader and the group needed whatever help they had, Orvus was, in this instance, simply too valuable to just let be tormented and disabled.
His face lightened a bit, her words and slap allowing him to forget, even if just for a brief moment, all the sorrow he felt. "I understand. You're saying their condition is already as bad as it can be. Yet you should realize, if I make a mistake while trying to heal them, my hands will have to carry their souls." he cautiously exclaimed, his words reflecting the shift in his thinking, no longer willing to take risks.
"If that is to happen, you will carry their light and push onward. It's what I do." her words carrying determination and meaning. So far, those hundred who also died had left their lights within the others around them. Now though, Manna wanted Orvus to carry them if they were to die. It was her punishment upon him, to let him see how it feels to bear a constant reminder of their deaths and your inability to do something for them.
Orvus realized what she was putting on top of him. He knew he deserved it and that he had to do it. That, however, didn't mean he was simply going to let things go as she wanted. He wanted to prove himself and show that their lights would not have to be burdened by him. It was the part of him that allowed him to have a light attached after Kilon and discover the Frozen Side.
"Very well. I can't promise they will live through it, but I will try my best. My best to prove I'm still worth something and that I'm no longer going to run away." determination was now fueling him, allowing him to move forward, past the deaths of their siblings, past the mistakes he made.
Manna simply nodded then returned to the front. While doing so, one of her sisters, named Salvete, with a slightly orange glow, approached Manna.
"Sister!" she exclaimed, making Manna jump a little.
"Salvete, what is it?" Manna asked, letting out a slight sigh after getting scared. Salvete's walking, running, and presence were special. She could completely make her glow disappear, while her light manipulation within the body allowed her steps and movements to make no sound. She was so good at it that even when not focusing, her steps and movements were only betrayed by her breathing, which was also hard to notice. She carried two daggers at the side made of clawbear teeth, which she would only pull out once on top or below the prey.
"Maybe it's not the best time, but me and—" she paused a little as she dragged Felemous's only arm with her, "Me and Felemous managed to retrieve a couple of the monster's teeth!" Salvete continued excitedly.
"Is that so? Well, it's not a bad time, so what is it about?" Manna asked, now intrigued.
"Well, we also got some greenwhale scales and, most exciting, a hornedshark's, you guessed it, horn! While you were sleeping, Felemous thought it would be pretty awesome to make you a new spear, as the one you have is a couple of sizes too small." Salvete explained, sparks erupting in excitement from her eyes.
"I never said it would be 'pretty awesome,' just nice." he grumbled as he pulled away his arm. From his back, he pulled the new twin-pointed spear. The teeth of the monster, four times larger than the split claw of the clawbear that acted as the blade for Manna's spear, while the handle made of the long, symmetrical thick horn and scales, was three times as long as that of the two antlers of the alpha starstag she killed for. The handle was tied together with some clawbear skin dried in the sun and rinsed from blood, the scales protecting the horn from exterior wear while giving it a green-emerald look. The teeth of the monster were imbued through the horn of the horned shark with a method Salvete developed back at the Link. The method consisted of surging light through the piece she wanted to imbue from the opposite side she wanted to attach. The surge of light this way would only erupt on the other side that she tried to attach, slowly melting or burning the precise width and length needed to fit the piece into the handle, seemingly combining them. The teeth were thin yet sharp, placed vertically and parallel to one another at a short distance.
Manna took the spear in her hands, performed some attacks in the air, and ended with a firm push to the ground with the spear's end. "It feels good, both the grip and trust of the spear. This is a wonderful gift." she complimented her siblings.
"Right? I wish I could have used it, but I must say, it looks really good for your tall body, Manna!" Salvete said, excited and cheerful for the compliments she received.
"It wasn't much; we just put together some animal parts, like we usually do." Felemous explained, trying to hide his delight behind a twisted smile.
Manna smiled, even though she didn't want to, for she didn't think she deserved much of anything. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted. The sound of thunder and then lightning followed, only half a sun away from them.
Orvus hurried to Manna, panicked. "Sister! A large storm is approaching."
"Didn't you say there are no storms here?" she responded just as panicked, then looked as clouds were gathering and swaying towards them from behind at half a sun distance, lighting up second after second with lightning. In the Shivering Lands, they would call these lightning storms. All storms had lightning present, but lightning storms had lightning at every few seconds. Weird phenomena followed, like tornadoes surrounded by lightning or electrified rain that would sting and damage the bodies of anything living. In the Shivering Lands, these were extremely rare, small, and only lasted, relatively, short periods of time. This one, however, was spanning a large portion of land, tornadoes rising up to the clouds, and lightning striking every one to two seconds instead of once every few seconds. The storm enveloped the Crackling Field behind them and would only take so long until it would be upon them.
"There were no storms when we traveled here. There were only noises of a storm in the far distance. And now that I listen closely, they are...remarkably similar." Orvus explained, concern growing stronger. If this was the same storm he heard while and after he explored the Frozen Side, it could mean that it had grown in size or that it never disappeared since it started. Both were troubling predicaments, as it could mean that their journey might become a lot more perilous onward.
"I hope not. But its sound is strikingly similar to that which I heard last time I was here; the only difference is the distance between us." he explained while healing a Lightborn.
"Can you still heal them while we run?" she asked, swaying the winds from behind as she held her wounded siblings in the air cushions to make running jumpier and easier for the others.
"Yes, but that is not our issue. The Gargantuan Forest, we needed time to prepare. Now we don't have a choice; we'll have to enter it as is." Orvus said, his voice concerned as his eyes brimmed with light and concentration upon the Lightborn whose light he manipulated.
"We don't have to worry about the Gargantuan Forest." Manna said determinedly. "I have the power to destroy any obstacle. For we must not repeat the same grave mistake we made." she declared, her eyes fixated on the looming, towering trees. The lightning storm encroaching upon them, disaster and uncertainty following at each step of the way.