The Unspoken Tradition

Chapter 6 (Void)

They walked toward the caves, his ears and tails twitched slightly as he heard rustling behind the gate from not too far off.

Ah that's too bad. I knew he was coming, but why so soon...?

His toothy grin shined in the moonlight as the little Kir followed loudly behind him. Leaves rustled and crunched below the little one's feet, and he started to get annoyed because how could she not know how to keep quiet? It was one of the first things that Piverates learned. He sighed quietly and then turned around to look at Mixie.

"Listen here Princess, I'd love it if you could keep it down back there. Someone could be, and is, following us, and i don't want to have to face them right now. And currently, you are giving away our location to everyone for the next several miles."

He called her the names for no reason but his own enjoyment, because when he did, she got mad, and it was funny.

Mixie grunted unhappily but kept it down a bit more than before. Soon they would be leaving the forest and entering the fields on the way to the caves. He noticed the Kir was limping still and sighed while walking over to her. Reaching into one of the pouches on his belt, he handed her a small crystal-looking thing. Void ordered her to eat it, and even though she was hesitant, she did. Nothing happened at first, but 30 seconds later she started to glow a faint blue, she jumped in surprise, but then felt her cuts and wounds healing. She looked at them in wonder and then realized they were gone. Her eyes twinkled with new strength, and she happily continued to walk with him, this time being silent now that she wasn't dragging her foot around.

She galloped on making little to no noise, the crystal filling her with energy and hope. She ran in circles around Void, making his tails twitch irritably. Knowing what would happen, he crouched down slightly and then quickly extended his unsheathed paw, clawing her deep in the side. She looked down in shock while letting out a pain filled yelp, but as he knew it would happen, her wound healed in thirty seconds of its happening.

"Calm down you little prick."

he said crossly, his ears pinning back as he continued to walk on. The leaves rustled and the wind hollered as she finally calmed down and walked slightly behind him. Void was in charge therefore making him lead the little Kir in front. He swished his tails just below her nose, stopped suddenly occasionally to have her trip over her own hooves, and would sometimes crawl into places he knew she couldn't go into so she would have to go around.

He hated Kirs and this was his revenge for helping her. What was helping without a little fun and chaos? Nothing he liked, that's for sure. On and on they walked, there was a slight swish of the wind that knocked into the Kirs wings and tail that caused a bit of noise, but other than that they were silent as they walked. They passed pine trees and spider webs, stood on pine needles and rocks, saw ghosts and small mammals in the distance, and smelled sweet flowers and death. Thoughts whorled around Mixie's mind as they trotted toward the caves which seemed to be miles upon miles away. Voids mind was silent, he had no need to worry, and knew this place like the back of his paw. Walking through the underbrush, Mixie not far behind, he stepped on a thorn. It pierced through his paw pad and blood gushed from the wound. He stared at it with no concern, leaned his head toward the pad, and pulled the thorn out quickly. Licking it once, he paid it no more attention as he limped on. So, what if he got a thorn? No need to stop walking, he would be just fine. The trees began to thin out and he paid no attention the Mixie's concerned gaze as his limp didn't subside.

"Are you going to be, okay?"

Her gaze was one of pure worry,

Soft Kir's and their worry.

He thought bitterly before saying kindly;

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Nothing even there, right?"

He raised his paw to examine it, blood dripped from it still, but he didn't care. His limp would probably worsen if they didn't stop soon, but it was fine because there were only a few more minutes of walking left.

He licked the cut again before continuing, setting a fast pace leaving the little Kir to follow quickly.

Mixie opened her mouth to say more but had thought better of it and just kept quiet. Up ahead they could see an opening to a cave, it was covered in vines and guarded by a small river. Water lapped at the rocks on the bed and as they approached, he turned to look at Mixie.

"Can you jump across? Or you could fly if you really needed to, but try not to draw attention."

Mixie looked at the water and decided it was too big of a jump.

"I can fly while I blend, it'll get me across and then no one will see me."

He nodded, the water was dark and was going at a fast pace. It would be easy to get carried away in it, but he wasn't worried. He took a couple steps back and then with all his might, ran forward and jumped as far as he could into the water. It swallowed up most of him, leaving his head and his shoulders above water.

Good thing I have waterproof bags.

He thought and he swam through the river. It was easy enough to swim, but he had to keep looking back to make sure she hadn't gone yet. He needed to get across first. His black fur blended in the water, he was drenched and getting tired, but he only had a little way left to go. The water had been too deep to touch the ground, but as he swam, he felt pebbles and a second later, large rocks. He stood there for a minute before climbing the rest of the way out. Water rained from his chin, tails, and stomach, and slid down his legs to form a puddle. Void's injured paw throbbed but he couldn't let it show. Beckoning her forward with one of his tails, she blended into the background before also taking a running start and soaring into the sky and over the river. Landing with a loud thud next to him, she shook her wings before tucking them at her side.

Hastily they walked to the cave entrance, it had vines draped over it, long enough to touch the ground. In they went, and inside was a large open space. It was covered with moss and seemed to be comfortable. In one corner was the entrance to an underground cave.

"It'll pose danger if someone doesn't watch the tunnel entrance, so you sleep. And I'll take the first shift. Mixie nodded and headed over to the opposite corner from the entrance and tunnel, layed down, and began to fall asleep. Near both the entrance and the tunnel, he sat grooming out his drenched fur. Soon enough all the mats were out, and it was slowly drying. Looking toward the gates in the distance, he was a flash of light. He closed his eyes, thoughts passing through his mind before he looked back toward the light. He could see the faint outline of five names, they were large, and he could see that they caused panic among the crowd of ghosts. He smiled at the chaos before turning back toward the tunnel. Leaning in, he whispered;

"Let them loose."

Screams could be heard from miles away as the ghosts fled for safety. He laid down and kept watch as the Kir slept soundly.

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