CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.58 'ROAD TO FRIENDS'

As the first embers of sunlight pierced the foggy veil of the morning, those of the Nowhere Generation began to awaken around their makeshift camp in the ruins of the mysteriously familiar Baka-Bayashi's homestead. Among the first to rise were Andrei and Saionji, who weren't exactly clear on if the likes of Okuri or Alpha.1 ever even slept. Hirano soon appeared from his place in a tree, where he had chosen to fall asleep that night, and Shimoda was soon to follow his sister.

Bayashi himself awoke before Suzuko, who was still asleep comfortably on his gut. He rumbled with quiet laughter, and the girl was soon spurred to awakeness alongside the enigmatic Vivian, who seemed to be just as lethargic as a sloth, and as keen to hibernate as a bear. For a moment, the scorpion-tailed half-Chimera curled back up into a ball on the ground, but soon stretched, arching her back and getting up to pick at the fur around her lower arms and legs before beginning to groom her ears in a primitive, animalistic manner. It seemed this act rubbed off on Suzuko, who took great care of her ears now, even with the tender scar where Bayashi had nearly cost her part of her cutesy appearance.

As the beastkin groomed themselves, Okuri proved himself different, meeting with Alpha.1 and Hirano as they began to move in the dawn hours of the day. Soon, they approached Bayashi while Suzuko and Phanes, who had been cuddled in her thick, puffy jacket joined with the younger members of the group and Inoshishi, who used his flaming spear as a firestarter in order to warm remnants of the previous night's dinner.

The flowers which had survived Vivian's unwilling rampage bloomed in the cloudless morning sun as it came out in full, and Alpha's tone remained a stark shift from the air around the meeting adults. Bayashi honestly seemed surprised with how cold she seemed, but Hirano was unphased, just as Okuri was. "We've got to get back on track now. Beastman, you mentioned you were aware of the local settlements."

Bayashi blinked, his small, friendly eyes curious now at Alpha's forward nature. It wasn't something he saw much of, but it was more than respectable, especially from somebody so clearly opposed to his sort. "Yeah, what about 'em, where d'you need to be ma'am?" he asked, a cozy warmth in his question.

Okuri cracked his neck as he continued to wake up, his pelt matted and messy after a restless night of meditation. Remembering the name of the place, he grumbled, and posed a question both he and Hirano discovered they held in mutual importance. "Iwatayama, right? Whether you join us or not in wandering is one thing... you've still got a chance to fix this place up after all, but we'd like to ask..."

"... Please, bring us there safely. You're more well-versed in the local roads." The vampire finished, having discussed it with Okuri the night before.

Alpha.1 remained cold, seemingly calculating. She hadn't been told they would be bringing Bayashi along for any length of time... in all honesty, she was still distrusting of him, even if he had joined them in their most dire moment recently. She closed her eye, contemplating the choice made on her behalf, on all of their behalfs, but remained quiet, focusing back on the conversation at hand.

"Huh? You want me to tag along?" Bayashi rumbled with more upfront laughter now, patting his chest like a belly-shaped drum. "And here I thought you lot didn't like me! I got more'n a few dirty looks, well deserved too after what y'all said I did while I was under that spell or some such!"

Hirano narrowed his eyes and broke his vision from Bayashi's. If the man was so keen on being a friend to the group, he may as well explain their hesitancy towards him. "Those looks, they aren't all your fault..." He trailed off, then began to recount the original members of the Nowhere Generation's encounter with an old foe, and an even older friend. "Once upon a time, we knew a half-Chimera akin to you... the same shape, the same face, down to the very same conductive magic..."