Spark in Darkness: Unworldy encounter/Prototype

Spark 20: Meeting the Sparks

Haruki moaned in pleasure as the juicy taste of roasted meat permeated his mouth, giving him an unworldly bliss. It was not some high-quality meat in some classy restaurant, but having lived off fruits and dried food for the past seven days, a simple meal of roasted meat, some vegetables and baked potato was able to let Haruki feel heavenly.

"Honestly, are you a kid?" Shinesh laughed as he took in his junior's reaction.

Haruki wiped the tears welling uo on his eyes. "But...it just tastes so good!"

Shiro giggled, "Sorry about that. It was my idea of training at the plateau that your stomach had to suffer."

Haruki shook his head in response. "Ah, it's okay. It was some great survival skills. Besides you suggested that place because the ley lines would make Kuro weaker, and easier to deal with, right?"

"You figured?" Shiro smiled.

"Duh, takes an idiot to find out." Shinesh shrugged.

The trio had to search for food in the forest below the plateau, which meant making a two-way trip down to collect edible fruits and some water from a river and back up again. Most of the time it was Haruki and Shinesh doing the job, after they had sufficient rest in the day, since Shiro would be inflicted with pain after the fights every night and was in no shape to collect them.

They also had some dried food in their bags, but with the salt to act as preservatives, it was not really good for their tastebuds.

After subduing Kuro, which was eating scraps of food Shiro was secretly giving it under the table, they continued on their way towards the hideout of the remaining Sparks. Halfway through they made a detour to the town at the port beside the forest to take a break and have a decent meal.

"The air really smells of salt here," Shinesh commented as he gulped down a glass of juice.

"Gosh, enough of that. I'm trying to enjoy my not-so-salty food here." Haruki made a sour face, and the other two Sparks laughed. He was the one who had the most trouble dealing with the dried food, and Shinesh was making him remember some unpleasant experience.

The trio soon finished their meal, and left the small restaurant with Kuro perching on Shiro's shoulder. It chose to remain as the cute lizard it was, and although it was black, it did not attract too much strange stares due to its big eyes and small body; in other words, because it was cute. It was also due to setting Sun; the rays were not too intense for it.

"Man, he doesn't even compare to his actual form," Haruki poked it playfully, and Kuro squealed, playing with Haruki's finger.

"I know right. They're like two different beings. Maybe it's because it accepted Shiro." Shinesh said.

Haruki's mind went back to the boars trying to kill him in the tea village a few days ago. Would they have been cute little pigs if they accepted Haruki? Haruki was unable to come up with a positive answer as the images of those crazed eyes and dripping saliva flashed in his mind. Nope, definitely no. He just could not picture them as cute animals. Anything but that.

The three of them plus a lizard walked down the streets, earning glares and stares from the people around them.

The atmosphere was heavy, as the people who hurried about quickly finished their business and returned home. The fishmongers selling their catch were also quiet; their stalls only had a handful of fish.

Haruki and the others knew what was going on: The Nayshards would attack this town soon. The memory of the devastation the Nayshards brought to the towns in their attacks was deeply ingrained on Haruki's mind. Of course, he would remember them; his senior from the Zaki Taiyo school had sacrificed his own life to bring the rampaging Nayshard down.