ORV Fanfiction [UNNAMED] (Hiatus)

Chapter 62: One Disaster (4)

"Oh, it's you two." Carus, who had been standing with his back towards us and wings folded back, gazing out at the sky in the middle of the courtyard turned around when he sensed our approach.

It was thankful on my part that Ornis recognized Jung YoungHo and I.

This should make things a little easier. I thought.

"Greetings Carus, Warrior of the Ornis." I dipped my head in a show of respect that Carus appreciated.

"Looks like you are more polite than that other group."

I had a feeling the 'other group' was referring to Anna and the others.

"So what is it that you want?" Carus dove straight to the point. "Do you also wish to learn our tribe's [Way of the Storm]? I'm afraid that would be impossible."

I shook my head, "Warrior Carus, that's not what we came here for. What I wanted to know is information you may have on the other 'guides' and also about any 'disasters' we'll have to face."

Carus looked slightly taken aback by my unabashed words. I wondered for a brief moment as to the customs of Carus's world on how they held conversations. Since Carus asked straightforwardly, shouldn't I do the same?

Or perhaps I had observed his body language incorrectly? Oh well.

"I see, so that's the reason for your visit." Carus propped a wing under his chin, in thought.

We waited for Carus to sort out his words, before he began,

"Warriors of this world, listen closely. While I can sense the others that have been sent to this world alongside me are alive, I am unable to pin-point their locations exactly."

"So does that mean you know their general location?" I quickly substituted in, earning a displeased glare from the tall bird.

Was I too rude? I sheepishly continued to smile and press on.

"Allow me to finish my words instead of butting in." Carus shook his head, "Well, yes, I can sense their general location. One of them is roughly in that direction,"

With his wing, Carus pointed to roughly the south, in the direction of the Potomac river hidden from view by the tall city buildings,

"And another in the other." This time, Carus pointed his wing in the Northwest position.

"Now onto the other question that you had. This 'disaster'. Right, as you people term them as, you should never underestimate them."

Carus's eyes flicked upward to the left in reminiscence of a bygone past, of some sort of solemn remembrance.

"In my home on the Dragon mountain range, I had been training alongside my brothers and sisters as usual. The bitter cold winds served as a good temperance to our patience and endurance. However, one day, the world was engulfed in darkness. We never noticed the signs until they were too late. At first, we thought it had been a collective group of heinous individuals that conspired together to raise such a horrendous and immoral army. However, we were wrong."

Group of individuals? An army?

Pain marred across Carus's features as his talons dug into the ground, out of anger and sorrow from his storytelling, I wasn't sure as he cast his gaze downward and clenched his eyes shut.

"There was only one." Carus practically spat this sentence out of his beak.

One...? I looked at him, attempting to piece together his words in reference to something.

As if Carus had heard my inner puzzlement, he sucked in a deep breath, opened his eyes and looked skyward. His shoulders suddenly seemed to be carrying a very lonely burden.