Falling Action
2332 Words
Lissana Mons
It seems to be cooler here than the outside now that I think about it. I’d congratulate and hug these boys for finally coming to a decision but, what is this tense air around them? It’s like I’m breathing under a fog of thin soup. Is the old man that strict about his residents? Hm, well in any case, Benan looks adamant about the decision and Goa just looks like he’s too shocked to speak. Hm, this is probably not my business, I won’t get involved unless I have to. Soooo….while they talk about it, I’m just gonna keep eating these delicious food! There’s so many varieties of meat! They taste differently with every bite~!
“Hmmm! That’s delicious!”
“I’m happy that you’re liking our cooking, you’ll be enjoying these kinds of meals for another week.”
“CHOKE..cough! Cough! What?! Why another week? What did I do?”
“You don’t expect me to let you leave right away, did you? And even if Benan’s strong, he’s still too weak in terms of fully transforming since the cave restricts full transformation. I don’t want these boys to perish the first step they take outside.”
“I agree, I completely agree with you but what do you plan on doing with me? It’d be great if they went out with me but a weeks…that’s a lot of waiting days. I’ve been itching to leave these caves for weeks so it’s really irritating…”
Oi! Calm down me! This is no time to turn hostile! I’m in their dwelling and they are feeding me great food. They must have a good explanation. Yeah….
“I want you to give these boys one week of training. That’s barely enough time to get strong, but I ask you this out of concern for my residents. You know very well that you’re still weak, don’t you, Benan? And Goa needs to at least break out the armor of his if he plans on surviving out there.”
“I’ve been training by myself, leader! I think I almost got it!”
“And Benan?”
“”Yes , I’d like Sana to help us develop, if she can. We would be less of a burden if you do, Sana.”
Hrmm, I thought I could leave as soon as tomorrow but I don’t want these boys to die because of me. Their leader seems to trust me too, I haven’t even displayed my skill strength to him yet. But, ahhh, a week, huh? That’s too short of a training time. But I also need to leave as soon as possible. I guess there’s no other way.
“Alright, I’ll train you guys!”
“Yess! Thank you so much, Sana! Thank you! This is going to be so great! I’m gonna get stronger thanks to you!”
“Yeah, this means a lot to us, Sana. Thanks. Well, you heard it, Harol. Do we have your permission to leave in a week’s time?”
“There’s one more condition.”
“Wh-what?!”
“The both of you have to say, goodbye to everyone in the settlement before you leave. We’ll miss you, too. Even if this wasn't your first settlement, we consider you both as our treasured citizens. We wish you both, the best of luck.”
“Harol…”
“Leader! Waaahh! We love you too, Leader! Thanks for always watching over us!”
The dinner ended with the three of them bonding and talking while I continued to eat in peace. This is a good place, but it’s not the place for me, and soon, for them.
“You’re always welcome to come back. The people of the caves will always welcome you!”
“Yes, leader! Have a good night!”
“Thanks Harol, Sana, let’s go. We’re going home.”
“Eh? You guys don’t live here? Then who’s going to wash the dishes?”
“Harol? Your dwelling, your responsibility to clean it! Hahaha, we always went by that rule. I mean…you can help him out if you want? He enjoys washing the dishes though, says it makes him think more useful thoughts.”
“Haa…is that so? Welp! If he’s happy about it then I don’t want to take that away from him~~! Let’s go~!”
“You’re in a good mood.”
We passed a number of dwellings on the way to their house, people started greeting Ben and Goa fondly. They all told them how much fun they had together and how much they helped each other throughout the months they’ve been together. It’s obvious that they’re loved by their community and that everyone’s sad to see them go.
A few of the dwellers also greeted me as if I was a normal, law-abiding, citizen. I greeted them too and I think I even made a few friends. Forget Imus’ connections! Look at me expanding my friend circle!
“Ah, what are you going to do about, Niah? Aren’t you two dating, Ben? What are you going to do~~~~”
“Eh!? Ben?! You have a girlfriend? What’s she like? When can I meet her??”
“What do you mean, ‘when can you meet her’? You’re not my f*****g mom. Besides, Niah’s not my girlfriend…we just…like each other’s bodies.”
“Hoo~so it’s that kind of relationship. I get it, I get it.”
“If you get it, good. Now let’s not talk about it again…but I do need to tell her that I’m finally leaving though.”
Ben and Goa’s house is towards the end-side of the cave. It’s the old man’s house he told me about. It’s a little different from the other dwellings since it actually looks like a real house, shaped like a square building with stairs leading up to the front door and two little windows with cute curtains. Yep, seems like a house made by an old married couple.
“You can help on the couch. It’s not very soft since it’s old and the cotton keeps spilling out, we’re too lazy to fix it.”
“I don’t mind. This place is really homey.”
“Hm, you think so, Sana? I think it’s pretty dank but anyway, this is my room okay? And Benan sleeps upstairs. Sometimes he’s up at that old study room, reading an old guy’s diary over and over again.”
“Why don’t you just shut up and go to sleep Goa, we’re going to train with Sana in the next few days so you need to prepare yourself.”
“Yeah, about that. I’d like to get started on making your routines. Since we’re probably going to separate after we leave, I’d like to make sure that you guys don’t forget your training. Everyday is a training day!”
“Wow, so you can actually be, responsible when you need to be. Well, uh, if I can help, we have a few books about Weres and transformations. Maybe that could help you?”
“Oh yeah, sure. Use canine and feline Weres almost need similar training so I don’t think I’ll have a problem with your routine. The problem is I don’t know what type of Were Goa is. So I’ll be giving him general enhancement skills and transformation skills.”
“We’re assuming that Croc but, I personally don’t want to be the case. I think we just need to help him focus on self-defense. He doesn’t seem to be the type that’s fast like us, nor does he have the claws….I’m getting worried…”
“Don’t worry, have faith in him. It’s just a little hard to transform under these circumstances. The both of you haven’t even seen your full forms yet but trust me, it’ll feel right. It’s a bit weird at first, but it’ll feel right.”
“Okay, thanks Sana. I…I guess I better go to go pass out now. Today has been emotionally exhausting.”
“I fuckin bet. Good night, Ben.”
“Good night, Sana.”
⁂
The week went by in a flash. I set training routines for Goa in the morning and Benan in the afternoons. I tried to enhance their unique Were traits but I can really do so much in just a short time. I hate that I have to speedrun their training but, they seem to be making considerable progress. I think that, after leaving the caves, their progress will double since transformations are so limited here. Them exerting so much effort channeling more than 35% will definitely help them develop more on the outside. Even Goa seems to be a bit faster now with greater stamina.
Sometimes the other dwellers would invite us to their houses and we would eat until it’s time to train again. From seeing Benan now compared to the first time I met him, he’s now capable of fighting three beasts at the same time. But with a little bit of my help, he’ll manage to do it with a few more training sessions. As for Goa, we have noticed that his skin sometimes hardens with the strength that on even my claws could pierce but it happens so infrequently that I’m still not sure if we can call that progress.
There’s only one day left before the week is over. I could have hoped that they’d be a bit better but that’s not their fault the time given was too short, and I can’t wait here much longer. We’ll just have to trust that we’ll survive all the way til the end.
“Sana, Harol says we could it at his place tonight. Since it’ll be our last night here now.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure, I love his cooking!”
“Great! You can go ahead, I have to check in with Goa and check the things he packed.”
“Sure~! I’ll be going then. But don’t take too long since we still have to train.”
“Yeah, yeah. Heard.”
He seems to be extra dismissive today. Maybe he’s nervous and wants to talk to Goa about it? Well that’s about the right thing to do. I hope he sorts out his emotions before we leave. It would really suck if he did something he doesn’t have to.
“Harol~! Hey! I’m here for dinner!”
“You sure got comfortable here fast, barging in like that, demanding food. Where are the boys?”
“Still packing, they’ll be here soon. What are you cooking.”
“We manage to catch the elusive cave quails today! It’s marinated quail and a bunch of vegetables again. Nothing too special. But you and I can have this!”
“Whoa! Is that booze?! Dude I haven’t had booze in the longest time! Let’s start without them, they won’t mind.”
“Hahaha, I’m sure they won’t.”
⁂
I think it’s been a few hours, we’ve almost finished all the booze and half of the food, Harol’s planning on cooking a new batch. If only his booze was stronger, we’d have more fun.
“What do you thinks taking them?”
“Why don’t you go and ask them yourself, Sana.”
“No, I want them to figure it out on their own. They need to.”
“That’s true. They’ve only been here a few months but you can see that both of them have this goal in their minds. They can’t sit still about it.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“But, at this rate they need to conquer the fears they’ve been running away from.”
“Hm? What do you mean? What are they running away from.”
“Sana, the training you gave them did definitely expand their understanding about transformation and their experience and physique has improved thanks to you but they’re still running away.”
“I…”
“For Goa, to channel most of his form, he needs to be able to stop relying on being protected. He has to learn to protect, his comrades as well. If he’s unable to do that before he leaves, it’ll take a toll on Benan. As for Benan, he’s still attached to something. He needs to let go and accept that he can leave, that’s the only way he’ll get stronger.”
“Why are you telling me this now?!”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it. If you knew and pushed them, they would have hidden it more. I’m telling you this, Lissana Mons, because progress is inevitable. They’ll have to face it sooner or later.”
“...”
.
.
“We’re here!!! Sorry we took so long!”
“Yeah, Goa was packing too much stuff so I had to check the things one by one. We still haven’t finished arguing but we got hungry.”
“Well, took you boys long enough! I whipped up a new batch of quail, Lissana ate most of them.”
“I deserved those quails in my mouth!”
From the looks of Ben’s eyes, he’s been crying. At least they’re trying. Well, in any case, I just have to trust that Harol’s right. I really don’t want to but Goa in danger and it’s not my place to rush Benan. I guess I’m only good for the physical side of things. As long as they’re still smiling right now, I believe they’ll overcome anything!
⁂
“UGH, ow my head. Huh? I’m back at the house? Don’t tell me I passed out!? I wasn’t even that tipsy?! What happened?”
“Sana! Sana! Where are you?! Sana!!”
“Goa? What’s wrong what happned?”
“I can’t find Benan anywhere! He took his stuff and left!!”
“What?! That stupid!!…do you know where he’s going?”
“I think, he went back to his old settlement…”
- Writer
