Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Metal

Chapter 10 A Message For The Future

 Nico was getting frustrated with all of the squirrels among the tree's branches. All of these things that could hold more secrets about their world's past were just scattered about, being used for various typical things. One young squirrel was even using a torn up doll as a pillow. Every other relic that Ratatoskr brought up was just being used all over the place by various different squirrels. Scouting them all out became almost next to impossible, especially when none of the tree climbing rodents he encountered didn't want to give up their new possessions. After a while, Yvonne and Ratatoskr decided to keep an eye on him and his actions, though Nico didn't really care whether they approved of his actions or not.

"None of you understand. The more we understand the past, the better of a chance we have to make things go back the way it was before." Nico told them all. "What's wrong with the way things are now?" Yvonne asked him. "What's right with it? Do you really want to live in a kingdom responsible for genocide? How about those so-called righteous gods that dictate the way we should live our lives." Ever since coming home, Nico has had become slowly aggravated by the minute and that aggravation has been showing up a lot more now that he is fully capable of holding one of the tree's relics in his very hands. "Who's to say that things were better back then? What are you going to do about it if you find out?" She asked him.

"I'm not sure but..." Eve came slithering out of his jacket and slipped down his arm. "At least I know it was a world without these gods. They're the ones who suddenly came in and rearranged everything. The same way Sinnel and his grunts have been doing for quite awhile now." Nico said. "So you're upset that these gods started coming in and just claimed they rule the place. What makes you think you're any better, treating my friends and family with such disrespect?" Ratatoskr told him. "You invited us up here..." Nico said to him. "I may feel free to kick you down a branch or two..." Ratatoskr was starting to get serious with Nico. "Then allow me to say the same thing about these gods. If any of you were smart, you'd agree with me. NOW HAND IT OVER."

Nico forcefully took a tennis ball from a nearby squirrel. It was obvious that the squirrel didn't want to give it up but they weren't as strong as Ratatoskr. This frustrated the squirrel to the point where she went in and bit Nico's ankle. "AGH!" It was his reaction to drop the ball he just took and pick up the squirrel instead, putting her up to Eve's mouth as if he was about to feed her. "Give me the damn relics. I did NOT come this far just to be told off by you little punks." "Let her go." Yvonne told him. "Then give me the-" Once again, Ratatoskr wouldn't even let him finish his sentence. One punch in the back of the head was enough to put Nico out cold and have him reminded of Ratatoskr's strength. A small bonk on Eve's head was enough to knock her out as well. Ratatoskr walked over to the tennis ball and handed it back over to the squirrel. "Sorry about him. We'll figure out what to do with the troublemakers before they wake." "Thank you!" The squirrel said to him just before scurrying off.

Ratatoskr looked at Yvonne. "You're not going to start causing problems too are ya?" He asked. "No problems here. He was the only one that was really interested in that relic crap. I don't know if what I'm looking for is actually here... or anywhere." Ratatoskr could see that Yvonne didn't look all that happy when she said that. "You seem troubled... now that I think about it, it doesn't really seem like a fair trade." He said. "Excuse me?" Yvonne was confused. "Well you were going to offer us those walnuts from your land, but you really weren't going to get anything out of it." He clarified to her. Yvonne wasn't at all worried about something like that but she knew he wasn't a mind reader and she couldn't just tell him her entire life's story. "Things are just... complicated." She told him.

After Ratatoskr thought about it for a moment, he gestured to Yvonne to follow him. "Follow me." "Where are we going now?" She asked him. "We have a bunch of stuff we haven't found any use for yet. Maybe you can take a look?" Ratatoskr told her. Yvonne knew there wasn't any harm in entertaining the squirrel and she already owed him for knocking out the one guy that was annoying her for months. She shrugged and followed him along the tree's branches. As she followed Ratatoskr, it would take them quite a bit of time before they would reach their destination but Yvonne still enjoyed the peace.