A Pining Pup...
A sad chapter, performed by CerberAsta.
Get yer fiddles ready.
BW
Pain.
Black...
Dull, hollow, emotionless, tearing, rending, never-ending pain.
Black...
Why did it stay locked in his heart? Why wouldn't it go away? Would it ever go away?
Black...
The bloodstains had long ago left, but the pain stayed, like a bad itch. It thudded deep inside his heart, causing every breath to be labored.
Sleep fell over him once more, bringing the black blanket of oblivion.
The pain returned with consciousness. He wanted to sleep again, but his mom was shaking him. Her tears were on and off. At the moment, it was off. Any second and she would become a waterfall again. If only she weren't so sporadic. If only she were like him, and would keep the pain inside. At least she wouldn't randomly remind him of her.
Why did you have to die, sis?
The tears came to him, now, and they flooded out. He was lost in his sorrows for several minutes as he just cried, without fully knowing, without fully understanding. She was dead.
Poor Jahk, changing through his youth, in more sense than one, felt undying pain, eternally piercing his heart like an arrow.
"Please... come back, sis..."
Nothing answered the desperate plea of the despairing young boy.
Just darkness.
...and pain.
The pain, always looming over his head. Taunting him, with bites and stings and scorches and the dull thud that just wouldn't go away.
Jahk fell back, still crying. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother curled up on the other side of his bed, wailing. The pain overtook him, and then came the darkness.
BW
"Son, wake up."
"Papa..."
Jahk looked out through puffy, red eyes to see, not his father, but Sebi. Selk walked in front of him, then sat down on the bed. Jahk nearly felt like crying again, but narrowly stopped himself. Seeing a lioness just reminded him too much...
"Time is hard now. With sister gone, much pain."
"Much fucking pain."
"No need for foul mouth."
"Much fucking need for foul mouth."
Sebi sighed. Selk wrapped her arm around Jahk; she attempted to pull him close. Jahk jerked away, almost angrily. Selk sighed sadly, looking down.
"You mustn't be sad, however. Anubites and Bastets have a duty to Egypt. We must rise to every occasion. We must never give up the fight. Strike down the enemy," Selk said.
"Strike down... the enemy...?" Jahk asked.
"Yes. Setites."
"The pale-skinned guardians of Set. They are wicked, and must always be punished. We can form temporary alliances, but in the end, we must kill them. For, inevitably, we will exist as long as they do," Selk said, "I haven't aged in forty years because of them. I keep fighting because of them... I watched as old age took my husband, finally... because of them."
"Setites...?"
"Our name for them. Benjamin was taken by them, and now he has killed one of our own. Jai was a great guardian, and she would not want you to wallow like this forever," Selk said.
"Monsters still here. Mourn later. Fight now," Sebi said.
BW
Jahk walked through the streets of Edith, his hands in his pockets. His clothes were rather disheveled, and his hair was ragged. He looked down at the dusty roads, sighing sadly.
"Hello, little Jahk, how are you?" Ms. Ziza asked.
"Fine," Jahk said, just loud enough for Ms. Ziza to hear.
His raspy voice grated the air, and spoke very clearly for him: not fine. He fished around in his pockets for a moment, before fishing out enough change for a piece of fruit.
Time is hard.
Ms. Ziza handed him the fruit he picked out, with a sad smile on her face.
"I heard about Jai... I am very sorry. She was such a sweet girl."
"Yeah. Very sorry...," Jahk replied, as he kept walking.
Nnamdi walked over to Jahk, while Sambi picked up a stick and fought an invisible foe.
"Hey, Jahk! What's up?"
Jahk looked at him, and their eyes met. Nnamdi was a young boy, but even he could see the hideous pain hidden inside Jahk's eyes. The eyes of a boy who had seen his sister murdered...
Much pain.
"Your eyes are scary... Are you okay, Jahk?" Nnamdi asked.
"...No, Nnamdi. And for that I am sorry, as I can't play with you today. Possibly never again. Forgive me."
Nnamdi put his arms around Jahk; the Anubite looked at him in surprise.
"Mommy says hugs make everything better," Nnamdi said, half-muffled.
"Thank you."
Strike down the enemy.
Jahk looked up, and broke away.
"But now... I have something I must do."
They are wicked, and must always be punished.
"Will you be back?"
But in the end, we must kill them.
"Maybe. But if I succeed... I won't care if I die."
Now he has killed one of our own.
"I don't want you to die, Jahk! You're my only friend, 'side from my brother!"
"If you ever understand why my eyes scare you, you'll know why I have to go. One day. Goodbye, Nnamdi. Take care of your family. You can't know what it's like without them."
Mourn later.
Nnamdi nodded, crying lightly. Jahk wiped away his tears, and gave him a gentle shove towards Sambi. Jahk continued walking. He slowly gained speed, and found himself outside of Edith, quickly.
Fight now.
"Benjamin... you'll pay."
BW
The beast stumbled through the desert. It smelled meat nearby, and the king of wolves pounced upon the rotting flesh. Crunching, slurping, and other disgusting eating noises were heard throughout the cold air.
It looked up, its ears perking. The creature's strength regained, it bounded off. Out from behind a large rock came a small animal that the beast tore apart; its squeals lasted a mere second before the hunter devoured it.
Its eyes scanned the desert, sniffing for future meals. It stopped, looking towards a small speck: a town.
With a howl to what most considered its mother, the Child of the Moon bounded off.
End of Chapter Nine
