Echoes of lost civilisations [sequel]

17

Cycles pass and we eventually get back on track. Nightcat and Maggie are barely kids now. Maybe around 120 cycles old. They're always talking to each other and up to their own thing. Talking, running around and exploring like kids do or whatever.

As usual, Hunter and i are talking to each other. It's been such a long journey and I'm extremely exhausted. I just want to sit down and not have anywhere to go. I want to see my siblings grow up with a happy life despite losing their mother to a lunatic. I want to see Monk and know everything is alright. I want to know for sure that Saint isn't really dead. Just thinking about it at all makes me want to rip my heart out of my chest. I want to go back in time, still convinced that my family is my real family and I'm not just some lousy messenger to deliver some lousy pearl to some lousy iterator.

We're slowly getting further from SRS's superstructure. While I'm distracted by the view of the cities and buildings around us i hear a gasp from maggie. Oh yeah. She calls Hunter dad now for some reason. I can't blame her though. She never told us anything about her parents... If she even ever had any to begin with but that's very unlikely.

I look ahead and see a dead body and strangely although I've never seen this slugcat before i immediately recognise them. This is the slugcat SRS was talking about... What was it... Leviathan?

I take a look at his body and it sends a shiver down my spine.

"Yeesh. Buddy's been through quite a lot." Hunter says, pointing out his ripped up body.

Nightcat pokes him with a stick "don't touch dead bodies!" Hunter demands and snaps her stick in two. "You touch dead lizards all the time!" Nightcat protests. "It's food. There's a difference."

While they're squabbling i notice something in his hand and Hunter shortly does as well after i do. I reach out for it and Hunter immediately snaps at me "don't."

Hunter takes half of the stick and pokes Leviathan's hand open. The pearl radiates some weird blue stuff that runs up Leviathan's arm. The pearl must've had a rot code in it like Five Pebbles used on Moon.

"Hypocrite!" Nightcat yells and pouts. Maggie awkwardly pats her back in an attempt to calm her down

"Wait..." I begin. I take the stick from Hunter and turn Leviathan's head, revealing a badly infected bite mark on his neck. It's not just infected but there's blue and yellow patterns spreading from the bite mark, leading all the way down his body.

My breath catches in my throat and i drop the stick. "What is it?" Hunter asks and looks at the bite. He looks at me with an expression of realisation and confusion at the same time as if we're thinking the same thing.

Saint is either alive or there's another slugcat out there with the power of ascension.

___________

The trees haven't been regrowing fruits. We're running low and I've been having to go on trips for Batflies. I've even been starving myself so the children have enough to eat... Oh what am i going to do.

I evenly sort the Batflies and fruit i collected so each kid gets enough to fill their stomach. Per usual i count the kids and make sure they're all there (which they are).

And after a long cycle, i put the kids to sleep and watch the rain pour down from the entrance of the tree. I sigh. When will they be back? I can't keep on living like this where the food is slowly dying out and nothing is growing anymore. There's only one thing to do I guess. The kids are getting older.

When i wake up in the next cycle, i do it as early as possible. Rain still sprinkles from the dark sky and i wake the oldest sibling up. I give them instructions to watch out for everyone.

I leave to find a better food source, which i do but i don't make it back in time. The rain gets harder the closer i get to the tree. I can see it. I'm so close.

The rain gets too heavy and I'm carried away.