The Realm of Muertos [Under Editing]

Chapter 8. A Team?

I think this story has more dark themes than I expected to write about...

I don't own anything.
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Orson' P.O.V.

Cassian is okay.

It was a rough night and none of us got any sleep. Bodhi and I had to pump all the water out of Cassian's lungs then deal with the multiple panic attacks he had overnight, many of them started from nightmares he had about crossing over to the Realm of murky... er, realm of the dead.

But he's okay now.

Thank the Maker.

I'm the only one up at the moment. Bodhi looked like a zombie this morning and I think his energy was drained between staying up all night and worrying about Cassian. As the sun began to rise, I made one last attempt to keep Cassian nightmare-free and give Bodhi some time to rest. I put the two in Bodhi's room and had them sleep together. I'll bet the duo was too worn out to even care how absurd the idea was. But it's working so far. They've been asleep for nearly three hours now, which means that Cassian isn't waking up Bodhi up with panic attacks and Bodhi is getting some well-deserved sleep. What a brilliant idea of mine.

I spend the morning just attending to any maintenance or cleaning the cottage might need. Then I interpret some of the Rebellion communications. Today is starting out as a very slow day. Nobody is chatting back and forth on the coms and I figure they must have planned this day ahead or something. I ended up getting bored and took walk Gumdrop down to the beach to think.

As I sit in the sand, I wonder if there was a medical facility nearby or if a special drug to cure PTSD was a thing. It sure would be nice to get over this hump with Cassian so he can focus on finding Jyn rather than trying to walk the fine line between happy and traumatized. It's too bad Gumdrop's licking and snuggling isn't enough to help him. Because the dog is certainly making me happier at the moment.

When I'm don't clearing my head, I walk back to the cottage and check on the Rebellion coms quickly before researching possible medical resources on this planet. Apparently, there's a flower on the other side that can soothe even the most brutal of mental pain. I fumble around with the planet map, trying to locate the exact position of the flower. To my surprise, it's close to Lyra and Galen's place. Perfect! I can swing by and check in to see if Jyn's found her way to her parents yet. Then I'll take the flower to Cassian and everything will work out!

Unfortunately, things are always easier said than done. I can't just leave Cassian and Bodhi like that. I'll have to wait until they wake up before I head off. I might as well make some small meals for the two in my spare time. I open the fridge and check the supply of food. There's not enough for five day's worth of food for the duo. There's even less day's worth of food if I stick around for another day or two.

Gumdrop wanders over to me and sets her head on my foot. "What is it?" I laugh softly and reach down to pet her. She licks my hand passionately. It's then that I realize just how much I have changed since I entered the Realm of myrtle or whatever Cassian and Bodhi called this place. I think I always kind of knew I was approaching my life differently now, but it still amazes me to see what Lyra and Galen were able to turn me into a softie right from their house in less than three weeks.

Cassian and Bodhi didn't get up until around noon. I knew they were up when I heard one of them yell "What are you doing sleeping with me?!?" There were a series of shouts and one large THUMP that followed. I could only guess and laugh at my imagination of what was really happening.

When the two came out of the room Cassian was standing as far away from Bodhi as possible without making it look like he was trying to be rude. Bodhi had the look of 'It wasn't my fault!' on his face. I did by best to keep a straight face as I make them brunch. "Bodhi, Cassian, we're a little low on the food supply," I said.

"I'll get some more food this afternoon," Bodhi responded. "But first, I want to know what Cassian was doing in my room. Do you, by any chance, know why?"

I shake my head, though that's a plain lie. Luckily, none of us have the Force and unless there's a lie detector around here, then I think I'll be able to get away with it. Plus, I've been good at lying in the past.

Cassian turns to Bodhi. "Are you sure you don't know? Because that seems like something you would do."

"It's wasn't me! It was you!" Bodhi fires back.

"It was not me!"

"Well it wasn't me!"

"Was too!"

"You little nerf-hearder!"

I sit down with them. "Okay! Okay! You got me! I put you two together to try and make Cassian sleep without waking up and giving you time to rest, Bodhi." The duo blinks and for a second, it looks like they might murder me. But instead Bodhi breaks into laughter and Cassian smiles. I can see a small glint of hope in Bodhi's eyes when he sees Cassian grin. Maybe I should just forget the whole medical idea and use laughter to heal Cassian...

Eventually the air became quiet again and the two eat their food quietly while Gumdrop lies under the table, waiting for something to fall to the floor. "I want to discuss something with you two," I start. It's probably best to tell them both about the flower anyway. It might not be necessary in the end but just mentioning might make the atmosphere even more hopeful. "On the other side of this planet, there's a flower that has the properties to help you." I glance at Cassian. "I was thinking I should head over there and retrieve the flower. Then I'll come back here and we'll use it."

"Why jus' 'ou?" Cassian asks as he chews. I swear, the Rebellion never taught their members any eating manners. Cassian swallows his food so he can speak easier. "Why don't we all go? I could use something to do and Bodhi hasn't seen this entire planet yet."

"It would be fun!" Bodhi chimes. My jaw drops and I must have looked like an idiot. Bodhi looks at my stunned expression and smirks. "What? You don't think I'm up for some adventure?"

"N-no!" I stammer. "It's not that... I just... I didn't know..." Now I sound like an idiot too. So much for all that military training in the physical realm. "What about the other Rebellion members? What happens if all three of us go and we can't pass messages between them?"

"We'll just tell everyone that we have a feeling we've found a clue to Jyn's whereabouts and that's all the information we give," Bodhi said confidently.

Well that's not exactly a lie. We are going to say hello to Lyra and Galen when we went. Perhaps Jyn had appeared while we were gone and they knew where she was. I explain that to Bodhi and Cassian about meeting the Ersos and the two look delighted. This might actually be fun.

Gumdrop whines and I look down at her. "What about Gumdrop? What do we do with her?"

"Bring her, duh," said Bodhi. "I can't just weave my wittle sweet Gumdrop now, can I?" As he sweet talks, Gumdrop drags herself near his feet and rolls over for a belly rub. Bodhi ducks down to scratch Gumdrop's belly and Cassian reaches over to steal a bite of Bodhi's brunch. Things are starting to look up for us.
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Yay! Our heroes are learning to work together and Cassian's getting a little better!

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