Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 15: Rabbits, Nightmares, and More! Pt. 2

Part of the reason why Valt hadn't been expecting to hear someone was that he had not realized he was in someone's presence. He'd been tuning out all of the animal brains around. After all, if he paid attention to every single squirrel he passed he'd be stealing nuts out of bird feeders in an hour. So hearing words caused Valt to jump out of his skin. Or, at least, three feet in the air. Not as bad as Shu back in the day. Mind still remembered how his boyfriend would fly into the ether of the universe when he got startled.

Apparently, Shu still had his old habits though. The white haired blader lept back a few feet, also startled. "Who, who's there?" Valt asked, scanning the trees. He still didn't sense any people around. Was someone blocking his mind reading? Really only Venus had ever been able to do that. But that didn't mean other people couldn't.

Subconsciously, Shu and Valt backed up against each other. Like one of those cheesy fight scenes where the two characters teamed up. It was almost like he was in a cheesy romance. Or, like, an anime or something. Valt decided he would stop breaking the Fourth Wall now, and focus on identifying the mystery speaker. But, still, no one popped out at him.

Then an exasperated sigh resounded across the trail. "Oh for crying out loud! Why does no one ever look down?" The voice said again. But this time, Valt and Shu were able to find the one who spoke. And, they had a name to put to the face as well. Which was not something Valt had been expecting. Especially since the last time the pair of them had been to Koma Village was oh, a good five hundred years ago. Well, that was a short while in the grand scheme of things.

Kinda.

Blinking, Valt stared down at the small white dog who was glaring up at him and Shu. Wearing a headband as well. That would have been weird. But on Hokuto, it was basically normal. "Hang on a second, you're still alive?" Valt practically screamed. In retrospect, he probably should have been a bit more tactful with his question. Shu seemed to think so too, giving him an exasperated sigh. The fiery blader did seem to agree with the basis of the question though.

Hokuto, however, seemed more than a bit annoyed. "Are you calling me old?" he barked out. "Because if so, do I have words for you! You're literally part of the universe itself!" he growled. It was then that Valt remembered it was not a good idea to make this small dog mad. But then he also remembered that he'd never told Hokuto who he was. Or Shu, for that matter. In no small part because the pair hadn't known during that life.

Looking at Shu, the sun just had a confused look to offer Valt. Let's just play to his good side, he suggested. Yes, that was a good suggestion. Taking the advice, the shadow crouched down in front of his old friend. A moment later, he was joined by Shu, kneeling down next to him. Ah, the flashbacks he was getting right now.

Back when Shu and Valt had simply thought that they were perfectly normal ducks. That could read minds and breathe fire, among other things. And also communicate with a certain dog that seemed to be connected to the force of language, not that he looked back. Also, maybe, like Life or something. Because there wasn't really any other explanation the blue-haired blader could think of for why Hokuto was still alive. Dark magic?

But, yes. Not all of Mind's lives were filled with nonsense like everything with Ashtem. And now all of this with Cold. Sometimes it was just a normal life. Something that Valt was eternally grateful for was how his brother, The Five, and basically the rest of the Forces left him and Shu alone. Most of the time, at least. Although he liked seeing his old crew, it was also nice to not have to worry about...basically the last week of Valt's life.

That being said, Valt still had a question for Hokuto. "Um, how exactly do you know who we are?" Shu inquired, beating Valt to the punch. Okay, maybe the blue-haired blader had spent a bit too much time reminiscing. He deserved to be beat to that specific punch.