Morning Song [HOLD]

w a n d e r l u s t

Come the morning, he was feeling a lot more refreshed than he had been after several nights in the Stonefield. While the griffon's courtesy was lovely, the sleeping arrangements were not, and Kokai hadn't realized just how much he missed the grass. He woke up to see the griffon still fast asleep in the clearing, and wondered how much they were enjoying it here. Skylar had said that they'd forgotten what it was like to feel the grass beneath their feet, which meant they hadn't spent their whole lives in the mountains. It made Kokai wonder where they came from, but eventually chose to leave the thought in the back of his mind. If anything, he would ask later. That was, if he remembered. But for now, Kokai decided it would be best to just continue on his path, guided by the river, to the rock where his harp lay, waiting patiently for his return. "I missed you," he whispered softly, sitting on his rock and picking up the harp, before gently plucking at the strings. It started off with single notes, to strums, and eventually, the harp's sounds became the morning song. The birds sang along to its harmony, and the forest's morning was as it once was. Everything began to wake up and start humming and whistling along to the melody, and the glows of young fairies lit the forest up. The morning was something Kokai missed greatly. Things were going to be normal now, he told himself. Things were going to return to normal, and Kokai was looking forward to that day.

It was a bit unfortunate for the faun that the nymph that came to greet him was one with a guilt-stricken face, and the cheery 'good morning' he would have normally received was a hushed 'I'm sorry' instead. He didn't know how to tell her that it would be okay. He didn't know how to tell her that what happened was not her fault, even though that was the truth. And instead, the faun found himself opening with the most offensive of all his options, "Have... have you found Gem yet?"

"Not yet," Cobalt responded with a dull, heartbroken tone. "I haven't heard even a whisper of her whereabouts. You know, since you were taken... they made a full-scale search for her. They found the siren who took you... I don't know what became of her either."

"Wait, they found Dea? Where did they find her?" Kokai asked.

"Well... they found her in the far outskirts, headed to the Stonefield, from the looks of things. They said that when they found her, she couldn't have been cleaner. Especially considering she should have... y'know. So... that's why they had hopes that you were alive... and that Gem's alive too."

"I have hopes that Gem's alive too. But I also have some questions I need to ask Dea... so she was alive when they found her?"

"I'm pretty sure she was," Cobalt smiled, "I don't blame her for what she did to be honest... if you seem so ready to forgive her. You're talking about her almost as though she's a friend, and honestly... I'm surprised that siren even had a name."

"I want to forgive her, but I need to ask her some questions first. I know what she was saying before she sung was true, but everything after that was a dream... was she hurt?"

"I don't know."

"...hm..."

"And like I said... I don't know where they took her. I'm so sorry, Kokai..."

"I just hope they didn't banish her to Whiteash for it!"

"I'll hope so too, for your sake... by the way, the song you played this morning was truly charming! ...it was so normal considering everything you went through already... I really admired that."

"Truth be told, Cobalt, I just want everything to go back to the way it was before this mess. I don't want to be praised, and I don't want to make history. I just want to be normal. Like I was before."

"Oh, Kokai... you should know that we were in disarray without your song. That's just proof you were history already, with or without the siren attack."

"I guess... but it wasn't a big deal. We just accepted that as normal."

"That's true. But we still couldn't live without it, Kokai."

"Say... what do you say we go out and look for Gem again today? Maybe ask around about Dea. How about we go on an adventure, just you and me!" Kokai seemed to be really excited about the idea he presented to the water nymph, but her face seemed to pale.

"That sounds like a good idea in theory!" Cobalt practically screamed. "But in practice, it's just... no! I can't do that..."

"No, that's okay. I'm going to look for Gem anyway, though."

"...I can't object to that. I can't stop you. Good luck, Kokai. Don't get in trouble like you did last time!"

"I won't make the same mistake again, that I can promise."

"I'm glad." Cobalt let out a sigh of relief. The faun picked himself up off the rock, and placed his harp beside it. He flashed the nymph a smile before he bounded off, along the river's edge, the direction he went in before Dea's appearance.

As Kokai bounded along the riverbed, he found himself wondering why he hadn't heard April's voice yet. He hadn't seen her glow, either. He wondered if she was too afraid to come near him. The last time they'd spoken, they both became involved with a siren attack, an attack that exhausted everyone with the dramas it caused. That wasn't to mention the fact that the stories everyone had heard of should have made him dead. It was different. It was different to what they were used to, and that scared them. And it wasn't to mention that April was older than Kokai to begin with. Everyone had heard the stories. And everyone was afraid of the malevolent spirits that had been killed by wrath or greed. Was Kokai one of those spirits? He figured that April's belief in that sort of thing deterred her from him. But Kokai found himself trusting Skylar over April, for the first time. He could trust the griffon. They were big enough to protect him, and they were smart enough to know that Kokai was alive throughout the siren attack. While it was different, it didn't make the tale untrue. Kokai just hoped it wasn't far-fetched enough to be dismissed as just a tale. But at the same time, that very thing was what the faun hoped for.