The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 28

Her eyes fought her as Cy tried to keep them open. She could feel the dart's poison lulling her to sleep but she managed to yank it out of her neck. They've stolen her new friend, she had to follow before they got too far. Cynthia forced herself to sit up shortly after the ridgerunners fled. Her head was spinning, no doubt trying to keep her from getting up in this state. However, Cy somehow forced herself to her feet and hobbled over to a tree to lean on it. Her hearing was muffled but she could tell there was someone screaming near her. She couldn't make out which direction or even who the source of the voice was but she was determined to follow the ridgerunner tribe regardless. Before Cynthia knew it, an arm grabbed her from behind as she was hobbling to another tree. She weakly pulled at the arm before whoever it was forced her to look at them. The person holding Cy's arm was Janner. He had escaped the attack and brought his mother Nala over to the crew to help them. Cynthia could barely make out Janner's face with how tunneled her vision was getting. She murmured as she weakly tugged at her arm, which was still in Janner's grasp. Janner said something to her she couldn't make out. It was like listening to a foreign language underwater. Cynthia murmured again but this time louder. To Janner, it sounded like gibberish. Janner appeared to call to Nala, who was kneeled beside the others. Nala came over and started talking with Cynthia but she couldn't understand her. Just as Nala resolved to pick up Cy to bring her inside, Cynthia somehow yanked her arm away from Janner and started running off in the direction of the forest. This run was with great difficulty because Cynthia's senses were dull and her legs carried like she was wearing iron boots. Before she knew it, she was falling to the ground with a hard thud. Janner caught up with her and he lifted her into his arms. Cynthia tried to fight with him but gave up just as quickly as she begun. She laid her cheek on Janner's shoulder and groggily dazed into the distance as he brought her back to the house. It was clear she was fighting the sleeping poison the darts had given her but she couldn't do much more than that. Nala met up with Janner and took Cynthia from him and walked inside the house. Nala said something to Janner that prompted him to go back to the Celeste and her crewmates. Cynthia was laid on their little couch in their front room. She let out a big sad sigh when she realized she wasn't going to be able to help her friend. Nala said something comforting to her she couldn't understand and started dabbing Cy's eyes with a handkerchief for she was crying without realizing it. - Zarabean slowly opened his eyes and found that he was laying on his back. As he came to, his eyes adjusted and saw the wooden bars above his head. Zarabean became frantic and sat up quickly. He was in a cage once again. "There's no use in freaking out." Said Pummi, who was sitting beside the cage. "You'll only exhaust yourself, brother." Zarabean reoriented himself upon hearing Pummi's voice and looked at him. "Pummi." He said with anger rising in his throat. "Let Zarabean out. Now." Pummi looked over at Zarabean and rolled his eyes. "There you go again with your anxious tick." He took a cherry out from his shorts pocket and popped it in his mouth. "I never understood you. Always curious, writing poetry..." Pummi gave his brother a side-eyed glare. "And an annoying nervous tick. You know, other ridgerunners just twiddle their thumbs or nibble on some fruit... But you start talking funny." He paused a moment before having a wicked grin come across his face. "Speaking of 'Nibble'... He should be out cold for a day or two. Maybe more if he's allergic to the dart's poison." "No... You didn't. You wouldn't." Zarabean started, his anger becoming more like anxiety. "Pummi, those are Zarabean's friends, you can't just hurt innocent people!" Pummi snapped his head around to look at Zarabean. "They are far from innocent! Have you forgotten?! They helped those horrid farmers make traps to keep the likes of us away! How are we supposed to survive if our food supply is cut short?!" He moved from a sitting position to a labored crouched position. "Then you! You run off and help those 'friends' get away! Do you have any idea how hard that winter was?! Do you?!" "We shouldn't of been stealing from those farmers in the first place, Pummi!" Zarabean retorted. "When did we as a people become so greedy that we were slaves to our own desires- so much so we stopped than caring about other beings?!" Pummi huffed and got red in the face. "WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY AND YOU KNOW IT!" He said before grabbing Zarabean by the collar of his shirt and shaking him. "LOOK AT OUR HISTORY, BEAN!!" Pummi shrieked in Zarabean's face before pushing him down in the cage. Zarabean fell on his bottom and looked up at Pummi with disdain for his actions. "We've always been this way." Pummi said calmly yet with a strange sadness. "Untrustworthy scavengers is all we'll ever be." "That doesn't have to be true!" Zarabean protested. "You just have to be willing to try with the right effort!" Pummi turned his face away. "'With the right effort'? What in Aerwiar are you talking about?" "The Maker. He helped me and he can help us all too." Zarabean stated as he stood to his feet. "The Maker?" Pummi glanced back at Zarabean. "You really think we should care what he thinks? You really think any of us should care?!" Zarabean nodded with his answer, "Yes, before it's too late, Pummington. He offers better fruit- it's the only kind that is lasting." "Pah!" Pummi scoffed. "You're brainwashed. You've been away from the tribe for far too long." "I'm not staying here, Pummi." Zarabean stated with determination. His brother rolled his eyes again. "You'll be in here a while.The counsel is already discussing what to do with you after you abandoned us. There'll be a judgement in the morning so you better hope they have mercy!" Pummi got that same wicked grin on his face he had moments ago. "And hope that 'Maker' of yours has mercy on your friends." The thought of his friends possibly dying on the account of him wiped all determination off his face. "... You have to let Zarabean out. If you poisoned Zarabean's friends... They need the antidote!" Zarabean grabbed the wooden bars of the cage frantically. "Please!" Pummi looked his brother in the face and shook his head. "No. If your 'Maker' is so real, he'll save them." He stood up from his crouched position, his knees making cracking noises like it took great effort to stand from that position. "Mother will be in to visit you soon. You better not make her cry again." He said as he walked out of the room.