𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐒 {spirit animals}

20. The War Has Just Begun

Shen stood at the docks of Greenhaven island, watching the clear water ripple as the soft summer breeze blew by him. Today was the day he was heading home.

Leila had offered him permanent residence here at the castle, but he decided that home was where he needed to be. After hearing from Tianshi what was going on back in Zhong...Well, he figured he had some things to sort out.

He turned around to look at the castle in the distance, where he knew most of the others still were. The boat headed for Zhong would be arriving sometime soon, and it was only now when he was coming to the realization that he might miss this place. Liu was flying above, a scarlet streak shooting across the sky leaving trails of smoke.

"You're leaving too?"

Rae came up from behind him, Ikaito at her heels, "I figured you might want to stay. Your whole code of honour and righteousness and all."

"I have other obligations to see to," Shen said.

"As do I," Rae stood next to him as Ikaito slowly lay down, "I thought about staying. You know, for his sake." She jerked her head at the hound watching the never-ending sea, "Part of me realized that he just got home. After thousands of years of vanishing off of Erdas, something finally brought him back to his family, his siblings. As annoying as some of them may be."

Shen didn't respond, but he had to admit he had been thinking the same thing for a while. He had been...More than distant towards the other summoners. Thus, Liu hadn't been around the other beasts very much either. It felt strange, taking him back to Zhong when he knew the animals belonged with each other.

"They speak with each other without us knowing, you know?" Rae said, as if reading his mind, "The rabbit, Conejo. Some weird power keeps them connected. Wherever they are, they hear each other. Feel each other. Turns out the rabbit is useful sometimes."

The last part about Conejo nearly made Shen laugh, "That's a good thing, I suppose. They've lost Electro already. If the rabbit isn't here to act as the glue, they would be about to lose two more."

"I might just miss these conversations, Mountain," Rae mused, "Irritating as most people here are, comedic relief is appreciated, I suppose."

"Nope, not by me," Shen chuckled, "I'll be happy being back to peace and quiet. Although, in Zhong's current state, I'm not sure how much of that I'll be getting.

That part finally hit Shen. Rae was going home to find her family again, but him...He was deliberately walking into a warzone where the Darkcloaks were winning. And based on what he knew, he might be the one tasked with turning the tides in that war.

A boat appeared in the distance, headed towards the dock. The one that would head down to Oceanus, and then Zhong.

"Something tells me this isn't the last time this group finds each other," Rae said as Ikaito stood up again, "Just watch. Give it some time, and it's suddenly going to be us again. Having no idea what's going on and figuring out how to sort out problems that no one else was responsible enough to deal with."

As if on cue, a scream in the distance that sounded suspiciously like Talona went: "KOLIN, HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY THROW CONEJO OFF THE ROOF?!"

"You really think this group qualifies as responsible?" Shen raised an eyebrow.

"...Slightly sort of maybe occasionally responsible at rare points in time?"

And that part actually made him laugh.

"Uh," Shen started awkwardly, "We...Should like, probably help them out right? Like, if Conejo dies upon getting thrown off the roof, your whole monologue about keeping the animals connected was for nothing."