CHAPTER 33: MISUNDERSTANDING 1

7 hours later...

Black looked at zephyr who just woke up from her deep, comfortable even relaxing sleep. Her eyes narrowed.

The warm and light glow of the bioluminescence fungi clinging to the gnarled tree roots hit her serpentine pupils causeing her narrowed eyes to abruptly shut close.

Her mind a little disoriented because of the sudden transition from a state of illusion and denial to a state of clarity and truth.

The warm, dark pinkish-azure glow of the massive mushroom and bioluminescence fungi softly contrasting against her raven black hair and the midnight wolf fur draped across her lith figure.

With a subconscious movement she turned towards the voice. Releaseing cute sleepy purring sound like a cat.

"Hmmmm!"

*Yawn!*

Her voice smooth and melodious, like a silent ripple, traversing through the space, reaching Black, birthing an amused smile across his face.

With a playful smirk, Black spoke, "Rise and shine! Little serpent!" His voice boomed across the surrounding, as he chuckled.

His back leaned against the earth toned gnarled tree roots.

*Zizz*

"Umm!..."

Zephyr rubbed her eyes, still a little drowsy.

A second later, she opened them. The sleep in her enchanting scarlett orbs having completely gone like the winter breeze in the warm summer.

Looking at Black her beautiful face blossomed into a delightful, captivating smile like a delicate flower of joy.

Her smile radiant, beaming even contagious.

"Good morning, Black... Hehe" Said zephyr, cheerfully, her eyes reflecting her joy followed by a light giggle. As she sat up straight.

He answered, "Umm..." With a simple nod accompanied by a relaxed chuckle.

Black waited for a while for zephyr to completely kill her sleep.

A minute passed, zephyr looked at him with a raised eyebrow, her curiosity killing her. Wanting to know about Black’s peculiar behaviour ’why was he looking at her with such an intense gaze’.

Understanding the spark of curiosity in her eyes with a simple look and realizing he had her rapt attention.

He questioned, his tone like a contrast between two extreme opposites, both light hearted and serious, a mix of warmth and cold.

"So it’s time you finally had your revenge and release that knot in your heart?"

The words spoken hit zephyr like an arrow to the heart, a jarring reminder of her deep seated hatered and her quest for revenge against that nether spirit.

Nevertheless, within seconds, she composed herself with a calm ease.

The kaleidoscope of emotions she experienced slowly calmly down.

Zephyr answered, her hand gently brushing her midnight hair cascading like the flowing waves backward. Her voice calm and free, unburdened by her earlier emotions.

She looked at Black, her velvet lips parting,

"Umm... After killing that nether spirit. I’ll finally be able to shed those nightmarish, terror stricken memories just like how I shed my past weak self. After all, mourning over what I’ve lost would be pointless".

"And would truly be able to look forward to our future together as a family! unburdened by my past traumas! embracing the possibility of our new beginnings ". She finished, a weak dejected smile gracing her beautiful lips as she plopped back down on the soft and smooth surface of the pink mushroom.

*Thud..*

Black sighed, watching her.

’She really is quiet a handful to handel.’ He thought.

So much time had passed since the first time they met in that small cave. At that time he had thought that the problem of her erratic emotional mood swings would be solved naturally with the passage of time. However even after so much time had passed, this bad habit of hers hadn’t died.

First when she woke up from her sleep, she had such a radiant, beaming even jovial smile.

However when he asked her a simple question, that smile disappears and what appears in it’s place was a dejected weak smile.

Just think, last night she had such an innocent smile on her face while slaughtering those poor wolves like what she was doing wasn’t anything wrong.

However when she remembered how her family got slaughtered by his earlier question, that radiant, beaming smile turns into a vengeful and evil one as though representing the incarnation of malevolence itself.

Even though they shared one of the strongest bonds one can possibly form in this entire Cosmos. He still couldn’t compherend how zephyr’s mind worked, who was simultaneously a little girl too with a tragic past to boot.

He sighed again, and simply decided to change the topic. Atleast that would keep his mind from shutting down because of high stress.

"Anyway forgot that!" Black waved his hand dismissing their earlier talk, "Instead tell me where is that Dark-Fall lake located, your home, I mean." Black questioned, a curious tone echoing through the space.

Hearing his question, Zephyr blushed in embarrassment, her cheeks a shade of red, though still sprawled, she turned to the opposite side not wanting to face Black, her head lowered as the words were spoken,

"Th-That I don’t know... " the voice echoed like a war drum, cracked, low even husky.

Unable to compherend, "What?" Black blurted out, Flabbergasted.

Unexpectedly or perhaps subconsciously, his response came a pitch louder then normal, which resulted in a pandemonium.

"Ekk.. " startled, zephyr thought, that she had angered Black,

she didn’t know how, she didn’t even care why.

She sat abruptly, eyes wide, her body turned towards Black as though on instincts.

She just tried to explain herself, her words flowed, a desperate attempt to clarify herself...

"Black... En! At that time I was really afraid for my life, therefore I just ran, desperate to find a shelter, to hide, to survive. I ran for hours before I finally stumbled upon that small cavity where I met you! That’s why I don’t know where my home or that Dark-Fall lake is. Please don’t hate me Black, I’m really sorry... sniff.. sniff.." zephyr finished, her voice crocked, reflecting the sudden tsunami of negative emotions that hit her, her ones beautiful eyes, now moist laced with tears, contained by the last thread of hope, waiting for his response, his forgiveness.

Black’s flabbergasted expression, first turned into confusion, then astonishment upon seeing zephyr’s sudden emotional outburst.

He only had one thought running through his mind at the moment, ’What.. in.. the.. name.. of.. Elytheria.. I knew it. I really couldn’t understand neither her mind nor her emotions, now why would she start crying.’ He asked himself in puzzlement. Then, he just sighed again, he had sighed so many times since he met her that he didn’t even know anymore, how many.

There was no point in thinking about that right now, not when he saw the hope containing the flood of tears in her eyes. If he didn’t comfort and reassure her soon, he knew that the flood gates would be broken, bringing with it, tsunami of tears.

...