Lost: The Forgotten

Chapter Five

Kasai sat in a corner of the cave, looking down at the sloshy pool. A deformed image of herself seemed to sneer at her, but she kept staring intently.

Anything to avoid her brother's gaze.

His icy blue eyes were piercing her thick coat, and she nervously shuffled her paws, watching as her breath distorted the image of her even further.

Arashi cleared his throat, and Kasai stole a glance at him. It had only been a couple days since they were trapped, but his coat was dull, his face much thinner.

Kasai couldn't help wondering if she looked the same.

"Arashi..." Her voice came out as a squeak, but his ears pricked as she continued. "You know you don't need to-" Kasai was cut off as he let out an exasperated sigh. After a couple moments of even more awkward silence, she murmured, "You look starved."

"I'm hungry," he hissed, his paws twitching. "But that's just... a warning signal. To remind me that sometime I need to eat. We should be able to go longer that three days."

She flinched at his foreboding tone. The anxiety was setting in. "Arashi?"

A grunt.

"I'm... cold," She fibbed, swallowing a lump in her throat at his expressionless sigh. She needed her brother back.

Arashi rolled over again. "You aren't the only one," he growled, tucking his nose under his tail.

Kasai nodded. "I know," she whispered. "I'm... sorry I got us into this mess."

"You should be," Arashi retorted. "You're the reason we're stuck here."

Kasai blinked sadly, looking down. She knew that it was the biggest mistake she had made, ignoring him. Chasing the caribou out into the open because she believed it was right. And most of all, practically luring the polar bear to the meat, leading it to them. Getting them trapped, with a bloodthirsty beast waiting just by the entrance.

But the words from her brother, no matter how many times she admitted them to herself, were millions of times more painful, and she still turned away to hide her hurt expression.

An eternity passed before he spoke again. "Although, if it helps you sleep at night, that polar bear could've been anywhere."

Kasai prodded at the moss under her, letting out a frustrated snarl when it tangled around her claws. "You do realize we didn't sleep, right? Like, at all."

Arashi rolled his eyes, ignoring the remark. "Moss is better than stone," he said, returning to the source of his sister's snarl. His eyes glinted even less than the gentle stream of morning light feeding through the hairline cracks in the cave, and he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

Changing the subject yet again, Arashi shrugged, stretching. "I'm going to go see if this place has anything besides snakes and bugs."

He glanced warily at the snake's partially exposed skeleton.

Arashi wasn't the only one having flashbacks. Kasai shivered, knowing how the snake bite had caused him to practically shatter. He had already been cracking under pressure, trying to lift the weight of every burden they shared on his own. As strong as he was, he just couldn't handle it by himself.

Kasai wasn't exactly sure how long she could hold up, either. She couldn't exactly use her new nervous habit of rearranging moss to suppress her hunger.

Wait, could she?
She carefully picked up a couple fleshy chunks of the moss, and pried the strands apart. A couple of roaches crawled out, and she shrieked. "Oh, if those are in my fur, I'm taking my chances with the polar bear!" She whined, licking up some dry moss.

Kasai coughed. "At least that tasted better than a roach."

Hunger clawed at her belly the entire day, and she could barely function. Arashi had returned from searching the cave empty- handed. It was tempting to reach outside and grab some caribou, but the constant threat of the bear made her too afraid to try.

She checked once again all the crevices and cracks, but only a couple measly moths fluttered out. Her stomach growled angrily, and she tried to suppress it by drinking some of the sludgy water.

It didn't work.

Arashi seemed weakened as well. She sighed, approaching him.

"You can't be stubborn forever," she murmured. "You need food for that." Although it was a teasing remark, her voice was laced with sadness.

Arashi avoided her gaze, stiffening as she stepped closer and brushed against his fur. "I know," he replied, his voice strained. "I know."

She swallowed in the silence, listening for a call. Anything.

But she was starting to lose hope.

Kasai stumbled a little as she dragged herself back to the cave, her weary paws starting to fail her. She growled as she tripped into the little pool of water. "Great," she said, rolling her eyes.

Arashi squeezed through the cave entrance moments after, hesitant. But he stepped forward and tried to clean the worst off of Kasai.

She blinked, gulping down a lump in her throat and giving her brother a sad smile.

Her fur plastered against her sides and her eyes dull, she leaned against Arashi. "Listen, I..." Her voice was barely audible. "I don't think Mizu's coming back."

A/N: Hi guys! *dodges flaming arrows* I know it's a little late, but- *axe whistles past ear* WE HAVE SCHOOL! Weekends are more convenient, so- *runs away screaming*