Turning Tail [Reader x Doldia Girls]

Final Part - 04 | A Dawn Once Slumbering

Bitter cider spills down your throat. A cup clinks in the distance, joined by a throng of voices all blending into one blurry noise that transcends the echo of jugs filled to the brim with bittersweet alcohol hitting the tables. Ceaseless chatter pours in and out of your ears, and your eyes find the many patrons filling seats around you. For such a small town, it's got a naturally lively bar. An equally lively guild branch to boot.

You set your cup down, your body feeling unusually heavy for one reason or another. Even sitting, you've never felt more sluggish, like your muscles have been turned to brick, and your bones to steel.

"That's quite the story," says the voice across from you — the boy who took it upon himself to buy a few rounds of drinks for the two of you. "And after all this, they just up and left you." You look to his gentle jade-like eyes, as they glitter like jewels against the natural light of the room and swirl with thought at your words from earlier.

Despite his being a stranger, you ended up divulging the story of your time attending Ranoa Academy, that which was plagued by indubitably bizarre happenings. Stretching from the sisters and their control over you for a time, to their fear against a corrupt, rebellious section of the student body, and now—

Now their sudden departure.

"I fear the worst," you say and take another slow swig of your drink. "Pursena... I can't stop thinking about her. Her safety."

Rudeus falls silent, glancing down at his drink.

Your eyes, too, descend to your cup. Within, the cider beckons, swirling amidst wooden ridges and materializing your shoddy reflection in the blink of an eye. Who you see is someone you have once been before — a shell, empty and lacking the strive to smile. Thick, sullen bags carve out the shape of your eyes. A frown is forever etched through your lips.

"Did you have feelings for these two?" Rudeus asks, casting a long stare at you again. "If you did, I'd personally say you're a bit of a masochist, but that's not—"

"I did." Your answer is resolute. As you turn over images of the beast-girls in your head, that confession comes all the more easier than you would like. "Not both of them, of course. But Pursena... she was something special."

The dawn of that kiss flashes behind your eyes.

You can almost taste Pursena on your lips again.

The boy across from you arches an eyebrow, pausing in preparation to drink from his cup. "If you love her, why aren't you looking for her?"

As Rudeus poses the question, you find yourself mindlessly dragging the tip of your tongue across your lips.

"I don't have a clue where to start," you answer honestly. "Plus—"

"So you're just gonna sit around forever and wonder?" Rudeus sets down his cup, shifting his hands to the table. "They could be out there suffering as we speak. Or worse — they could be dead already."

"I'm sure they just went back to their tribe and tried to smooth things over with their families."

"Tribe?" Rudeus leans in, a bright flicker of surprise jumping to his green eyes. "You never said anything about tribes."

You shrug your shoulders gently. "Didn't mean to leave that part out."

"So they're beast-folk?"

"They are."

"What tribe?"

"Doldia, I think."

Rudeus moves to lean back in his seat. The wooden chair creaks softly, and that noise is all you hear as the rest of the bar's sound drowns out into oblivion. Chatter dies away into a dreamy silence. The joined resounding clank of wooden cups and utensils hitting portions of meat and vegetables fall into obscurity.