Home is what we make it

Chapter 3

Veeran walked through the corpses of his people, feeling dread and sorrow at each step. Ajju had taken to helping any and all people to safety and to medics, though how many of them were left he wasn't sure.

The raiders had fled once the ship of the commander had fallen and they were left to come together from the ruination they had wrought on them.

He walked towards the bridge to the sacred tree. He doesn't know who made it and who didn't. He had seen the refugee ship fall from the sky, the one that was supposed to be carrying Sumathi and Mariam.

As he got closer to the bridge he saw the 8 foot old man walk closer to them, his hands full with someone who wasn't moving, he picked up his pace once the white linen adorning the body caught his eye.

Mariam

He ran and the man stopped as he got closer and lowered her down to the ground just as Veeran's legs failed him. He fell down onto the ground and crawled the rest of the way to her, his voice stuck in his throat unwilling to come out at the sight of her dead body.

He looked at her, his eyes falling to her heart where blood bloomed like the flowers she was so fond of.

 They were siblings, him and her. Her mother had rescued him and had raised him as her own. They had always made fun of him, about how him stressing so much was bound to make his life shorter and now, he outlived them both.

Sobs echoed through the air and it took a while for Veeran to realize it was him who was sobbing. His body did not relent, not letting him stop the tears or get them under control. He kept crying and the kid that followed the man, the kid Rumi had protected made their way closer to him, waiting to see if he would move. When he didn't, the kid sat down next to him laying their hand on his elbow. Giving him company alongside their teacher who stood guard as he grieved over his fallen family.