14-Destructive eruption nurtures future growth

5/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Great Western Rainforest- Early Morning

The morning had finally come to the monkey village, and a few signs of activity could be seen. The wooden shutters of a few cabins were opening, but other households still appeared to be asleep. Emi flew over to Majusculus's cabin and noted that his shutters were still closed.

Late sleeper? Oh...I never helped him clean up since he kicked me out...He probably had to spend at least an hour or two to mitigate the damage before going to bed.

As Emi decided to let Majusculus sleep in, she noticed a smaller monkey making his way toward her.

Arctic? I haven't seen the other little ones yet so I don't know how alike they look, and with my change in height, my scale is a bit off. Let's play it safe until I confirm it, I don't want to come off as some sort of racist tourist.

"Good morning small one. Slept well?"

The colors making up the aura around the smaller monkey abruptly shifted.

Surprise or excitement, then a mix of happy and sad?

"Hello. I slept good. You look different. I can understand you now. Why? You can understand me? Please call me by the name you used before, I don't like small one."

Emi blinked a few times before replying, surprised by how much more clearly he came across than a certain other monkey.

Better grammar and using the past tense properly? Arctic V.S Strong Armor Spear 1-0!

"Ah. I met Strong Armor Spear last night. He told me about your past, and he said that the village rules say you can't have a name before you grow up,-"

Emi didn't need to look at Arctic's aura to see him grow visibly sad and apprehensive as a result of her words.

"-but I think he is a big stuck-up doodoo-head and I am on your side. So, if you like the name Arctic, then that's what I'll use!"

Emi tried to give Arctic a big grin, but she had no clue how it came across with the facial structure of her newly acquired avian face. Luckily, her words had been enough to reassure the young monkey as his face, and his aura, both revealed how happy and excited he was once more feeling. Only this time, some bright white accents were flaring up in places; hope.

"I have a favor to ask. You can say no if you don't want. Before I ask, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, go ahead and ask. I won't tell the others, even if I refuse."

Arctic's expression grew more serious as his resolve bled out into his aura.

"I plan to escape from the tribe soon. I want to find a better place where others don't hate me. I have been hiding and avoiding the training for the small ones but while they think I go out and play, I hide and listen to the leader teaching the older ones. They are too slow so I use the time they waste taking bits of food that last long and hide them. Pots of jam, dried meat, fruits, and other things too. Some days I go out and bury them in my secret spot. I have enough, maybe, but I was waiting to grow stronger. The forest is dangerous. If you come with me we can look out for each other. Tonight, or tomorrow, come with me when I escape. The world is a lot bigger than the forest and I want to see it. I want to meet other people like you, who don't become sad or angry when they see me. Even the leader. He tries to hide it and is nice to me, but I can see it in his eyes."

Emi was torn between two emotions. She kind of wanted to laugh, because both parties wanted the same thing to happen and were making separate plans to achieve the same result. On the other hand, the resolve Arctic was showing, and the deep sadness that overtook his aura towards the end, resonated deep inside her heart. It reminded her of the way her father had sometimes looked at her after her mother's death. Emi hadn't been responsible for it in any way, her mother had died of a post-op infection after she'd had a malignant tumor removed. After her death, Emi could tell that every time her father saw her, he would have this sad look in his eyes. This was one of the main reasons why Emi had chosen to apply to a university in the USA. The other was that with her father being a Navy officer on permanent deployment to the U.S base in Yokosuka, she had had access to significant financial aid. Her family hadn't been poor. Her father had a fairly well-paid position, that included accommodations attached to the base, and her mother had been a substitute violinist in the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Two years of medical expenses to fight her mother's cancer, and the loss of a second income, had been enough to strain their finances enough that her college fund had dwindled.

"Your secret is safe with me. I am saying yes for now, but give me a day or two. I might have a better way of doing this. For now, though, I need your help with something."

***

"Aaaaaaaah...That's better."

Emi was lying in a large wooden washtub she suspected was used for laundry, half-filled with water slightly warmer than lukewarm. The village did not have running water and, as it turns out, the wells were connected to a stream that ran just outside the village walls. This meant the water was fresh, in both senses of the word. Emi had sent Arctic to boil a large pot of water and add it to the cold water in the basin. After having a tub somewhat filled with water that wasn't unpleasantly cold, Emi had to get creative. With no hands or washcloth, she lowered herself to the bottom of the tub and rolled around in the water vigorously while repeatedly spreading and clinching her feathers in an attempt to shake off as much of the sticky grime as possible. After a few minutes of this strenuous exercise, she stayed still on her back with her wings spread, soaking it all in, so to speak.

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"Thanks Arctic, I needed that. Uh? What are you doing? I didn't think you were a pervert."

Arctic was sniffing her bathwater with a pensive look on his face.

"Pervert? What is that? I was just thinking that the water smells a bit like the hot leaf juice the leader drinks. Too bitter. Fruit juice is better."

Hot leaf juice? Tea? Well I lived in the trees and I was covered in honey so...

Emi sniffed her bathwater and chuckled.

"Yeah, I kind of smell like an earthy cup of tea don't I? Just a hint of mouse blood. I hate that it's making my stomach rumble. This is gonna suck, but I need to rinse off. Can you get a bucket of fresh water please?"

Arctic nodded and went to fetch some water from the well just as Majusculus entered Emi's view.

"Hello Emi. Did you decide to turn yourself into a chicken stew? I don't think the water is hot enough for that."

"Good morning tribe leader. I apologize for my insensitive words last night, and for letting you clean up on your own. I got so carried away with all the new stuff I was finding out about that I wasn't paying attention to how I was coming across or affecting you."

Majusculus had a pained expression on his face as he replied.

"Please, just call me by my name. I am not your leader. I appreciate your apology but it is not needed. In truth, I believe I am the one who owes you an apology. I let my insecurities get to me and I lost my temper. You are young and confused, and you were alone until recently, but I just yelled at you and kicked you out. I was still angry as I was cleaning up, but by the time I got to bed, I realized I had erred."

Emi kept staring at Majusculus as he waited for her to respond. After about a minute, his nerves seemed to run out.

"Come on, say something."

"Well, I don't blame you for last night-"

Majusculus looked relieved but then Emi finished her sentence.

"-but honestly I'm not sure how I feel about you after hearing of little Arctic's situation, from both sides. Let us speak of it privately, later. Arctic is about to come back from the well. And before you decide whether you should correct me, and have me call him "small one", I ain't gonna do that."

Emi's apologetic attitude disappeared as cold, seething rage replaced it. As if by instinct, Emi activated the part of [Reciprocal Empathy] that let her share her emotions for the first time. The pain she felt for Arctic, and the anger at how the adults had handled the situation, mixed with the unspoken accusation inside of Emi's heart. Boundaries blurred as she let the wave of emotion break free. Majusculus was standing in front of her, but at this moment, Emi was seeing her father.

The two of them, failing to get past their grief, forcing us to make the hard decisions because they decided it was too hard to deal with themselves. Making us feel like we were the problem, and pushing us into running away.

Then, Arctic came to her mind and her feelings grew exponentially. She was not him. He had endured more, much more. She had only lived a sliver of what he had to live through, and that might have been enough to break her if she had not met Ben and Meg. Arctic had none of that. All those feelings were getting magnified and in her anger, Emi failed to feel her energy reserves rapidly draining.

Something was bubbling inside of her, something she could no longer ever share with its original target, a world away. The maelstrom of feelings brewing inside of her mind and the energy inside of her core continued merging until they could no longer be contained. When it finally made its way out, it wasn't as an explosive storm.

A single word came out of Emi's beak.

Not a yell, for a yell wasn't enough to truly convey her rage.

Instead of a yell, one word. A word barely louder than a whisper.

One word, carrying all the indignation, the anger, the sorrow, and the accusations of a young woman and a little monkey.

"Understand!?"

An accusation, a statement, and a question. As if it were begging for an answer. One that was sorely needed.

The word had started barely above a whisper but traveled without dissipating, resonating throughout the village. In the end, it wasn't one Ability that Emi had activated but three. The word did not only carry emotion, it was also filled to the brim with intent. What she had packed in that single word conveyed more than a sentence, more than even a paragraph. Emi had limited energy due to her low level, and so, after a couple of seconds, the word finally dissipated. The cabins were still standing and nothing appeared to be damaged, nothing physical at least.

Emi let out a deep breath as the weight of the pent-up emotions, ones she had never put into words before, left her. She felt lighter, better, until she heard the thunk of a heavy bucket making contact with the ground followed by the sound of splashing water. There stood Arctic, a smile on his face, his eyes moist with tears. His aura was too complex to put down in a few words, but Emi could feel one thing above all. The young mute monkey felt heard, understood, for the first time in a long time. Emi rushed to embrace him, wrapping her soaked wings around his upper body.

"Don't worry. You are not alone anymore. I promise."

Arctic cried silently into her wings, but he was not the only one to react. In fact, every member of the tribe had heard that single word. Even those that had been up late guarding the village, or speaking to visiting owls, had woken up and heard it. They had all felt it. Not truly, not all of it, but enough. Enough for every single member of the tribe to appear sapped of will, a look of shame on their faces. The few monkeys that Emi could see had much less complicated auras than Arctic. The auras appeared as if they were resonating as the monkeys made eye contact with each other, before looking away. It would have been easy to push the blame onto others, or even onto a single armor-clad monkey, but that would just repeat the cycle. The auras grew as they interacted, and soon it felt to Emi as if the whole village was consumed by an aura of deep blues and pale reds, mixing into a washed-out purple. Shame and sadness were the first two colors, and they may have faded in time like most emotions are want to do, however, they combined to make something harder to get over; Regret.

Near the center of the village though, a little monkey was bathed in a white aura as he sobbed. Emi held him tightly, to assure him that she wouldn't disappear. Right now, she had to be strong for him.

Ben and Meg gave me a new family when I needed one. Now, it's my turn to do the same.

Majusculus stood just there, a pained and guilty expression on his face, as he watched Arctic cry. He walked away, slowly, leaving the pair undisturbed.