Cast Out (Book 1 Done; Book 2 In-Progress)

Chapter 8: Part 2

PREVIOUSLY:

Wahshi was betrayed by Zhang and his party, and died at the hands of the "Elder Dragon". He revived at the Mist of Souls, where he then proceeded to rush out of there, at the cost of immense amounts of pain. And several pounds of flesh.

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I was flat on my back with my eyes closed, just enjoying the sensation of being able to exist without pain. My lips twitched in a small, upwards direction.

It was almost like a smile.

A shadow loomed over me, and I opened my eyes.

A familiar face with worried green eyes hung over me, trying to figure out if I was alright.

I slowly stood up, and Gaia backed away to give me some room.

A smile grew on my face as I looked at the dark-skinned girl that could've passed for a nine-year old.

"GAIA!!" I said in a happy, shout-like voice.

She giggled like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"MR. WASHY!!"

I mentally face-palmed.

'It hasn't even been a day, but she already forgot that my name isn't Washy.'

"Grrr! It hasn't even been a day, but you already forgot how to say this here monster's name?!" I growled in pretend anger.

"Don't you know what kind of monster I am?"

She looked at me, her light green eyes wide open with curiosity. She leaned forward a little, like she couldn't wait to hear what I was about to say.

"I'M THE HUGGING MONSTER!!! I HUG ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS WHO FORGET MY NAME, AND I NEVER, EVER LET THEM GO!! ROAR!" (*Yes, Wahshi really did say "roar"*).

She turned around and screamed in pretend fear as I playfully chased her around and around the area. We ran up the hill, around the tree (many times before she ran somewhere else), back down the hill, up the hill again, around and around we went.

As we played around, the burning in my eyes that had started when Zhang, Misa and Alexa had left me to die by the Dragon, had finally died down.

Gaia went to "hide" behind the trunk of the giant tree again. As soon as she was out of sight, tears started to flow down my face.

'Talia, is this what it would've been like if I was around to watch you grow up?'

Images of Talia came unbidden to the front of my mind. The old memory played back, crystal clear even after all these years.

I had her only for a day, but it had been the best day of my life. When I saw her little baby face, everything I knew about the world had changed. Before, it had all been about me living my life. Even after I'd married Sarah, I knew my life had changed, but I'd never felt as big of a shift until that day when I held my baby girl for the first time in my life.

My world had shifted, and my life wasn't just about me anymore. It wasn't even about my wife and I. It was about us, as a family. I knew Sarah felt the same way as I did, from the way I saw her look at Talia for the first time after giving birth to her.

After I had handed her to my wife, we had looked down at our newborn daughter. She'd inherited my wife's dark, tan skin and black hair. She'd gotten my eyes though. My jovial, brown eyes. She'd looked up at the world in wonder, while my wife and I had looked down at her in glowing joy.