In the Midst of the Lonely Sea of Loneliness 10

After some searching, Janner managed to find a graphite pencil and a piece of paper and gave them to his mother. "Mom... Write something for me. Tell me why you can't come home with me..."

Neet looked at Janner and then at the paper and pencil with a worried look on her face. She took the items and laid the paper on the ground and struggled to write her answer with her claws. The way her hands were deformed made it difficult for her to write anything perfectly but she did her best.

After she finished writing, she showed it to Janner. It read, "FΛПGƧ ΛЯΣ ΛFƬΣЯ MΣ, JΛППΣЯ. I DӨП'Ƭ ЩΛПƬ ƬΉΣM ᄃӨMIПG ΛFƬΣЯ YӨЦ ΛПD ПӨ MΛƬƬΣЯ ΉӨЩ MЦᄃΉ I ЩΛПƬ ƬӨ GӨ ΉӨMΣ, I ᄃΛП'Ƭ ЯIƧK ƬΉΣ FΛПGƧ ΉЦЯƬIПG MY FΛMIᄂY."

Janner squinted at the writing but eventually was able to read what it said. He looked back at his mother, "The fangs are after you? Is it because you stopped that carriage?"

Neet sighed and flipped the paper over to reveal it was a wanted poster with her face on it.

"... Oh..." Janner cringed at the picture, realizing the gravity of the situation. "You're... a wanted criminal..."

Neet nodded before flipping the poster back over and writing more in response, "I ƧƬӨP ƬΉΣ BᄂΛᄃK ᄃΛЯЯIΛGΣ FЯӨM ЯIPPIПG ΛPΛЯƬ FΛMIᄂIΣƧ... I DӨП'Ƭ ЩΛПƬ ΛПYӨПΣ ΣᄂƧΣ GӨIПG ƬΉЯӨЦGΉ ЩΉΛƬ I ΉΛVΣ ΉΛD ƬӨ GӨ ƬΉЯӨЦGΉ."

"That... Would explain why you poofed a fang earlier today... You know, you might have gotten Uncle Artham in trouble..." Janner nervously said. "They were tracking us near the end of Dragon day."

"TAHW?!" Neet exclaimed in horror, placing her claws over the sides of her head. "Yeht erew gnikcart uoy?! Era uoy turh?!" She immediately started looking Janner over for signs of injury.

"What? Hey!" Janner grabbed Neet's paws, wanting to continue speaking with her in a way he could understand. "Mom... Please keep writing. I want to talk with you."

Neet briefly made a frustrated snarling noise before getting back to writing. "ΛЯΣ YӨЦ ΉЦЯƬ? IƧ ΣVΣЯYӨПΣ ӨKΛY?"

"Everyone is fine... But so much is happening at once it's confusing." Janner sighed. "Are... Are we really royalty?"

"Ti t'nseod leef ekil ti, seod ti?" Neet asked before reminding herself she needed to write her responses. "ΛППΣЯIΛ IƧ Λ DIƧƬΛПƬ MΣMӨЯY FӨЯ MΣ ПӨЩ... ᄃӨΛƬΣD ЩIƬΉ ƧЦFFΣЯIПG ΛПD ΉΣΛЯƬBЯΣΛK. IƬ PΛIПƧ MΣ ƬӨ ƬΉIПK ӨF ΉӨЩ IƬ ЦƧΣD ƬӨ BΣ."

"Can you tell me what happened? What happened to you? What... happened to my father? Why isn't he with you? Something must have happened..." Janner unintentionally began to bombard Neet with questions and soon discovered that she was easily overwhelmed by the questions he was asking.

The pupils of her eyes seemed to get smaller as she dropped the pencil and began trembling.

"Mom?" Janner frowned. "What's wrong?"

Neet shook her head and turned away from Janner entirely. She began to take deep breaths in an effort to calm herself like she was familiar with what was happening to her.

He warily touched his mother's shoulder, concerned that she might be crying again but his hand was slapped away unexpectedly. Something wasn't right.

She began making some concerning wheezing and growling noises, crunching up into a ball on the floor like she was deeply troubled.

Completely unsure what to do, Janner stood there hopelessly, staring at his mother like she was some kind of animal. He knew that this wasn't the case but having his hand smacked away didn't necessarily help him become more understanding of what was going on.

If Neet could have explained what happening, she would have. Unfortunately, she could not due to her panicked state. A sudden fear had struck her like an arrow and no matter how much she tried to breathe, it was like she was being choked. The trauma she had faced over the years had come full force just simply at the mention of the events that led her here. Her mind was fragile and it took a toll on her.

Finally, a loud bout of thunder shook the little tree house, causing Neet to make a roaring noise and cower; this made Janner realize that she was scared and not angry with him.

"Mom!" Janner went around to her front her to look her in the eyes. "What's wrong? Stay with me!"

Neet's eyes were wide, the pupils within them very small and staring into the distance like they were stuck. Her dark hair draped over her face like a thin linen sheet and tears were coming down her face, getting her hair wet. Her breathing was quick and seemed like she wasn't actually getting air in.

Janner waved a hand in front of her face and tried to get her to acknowledge him again but he soon found this very difficult to do in her panicked state. He decided to try and speak to her softly, hoping it would help her calm down. "I don't know what's happening... But it will be okay, mom... You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you. Just... breathe... and look at me."

He kept speaking softly to her throughout her scary episode and within a few minutes, Janner could tell she was finally looking back at him.

"It's just us and the Maker up here..." Janner reassured her, careful not to disturb her in a way that results in his hands being slapped away again.

Neet eventually got her breath back and began to slowly uncurl from her fetal position.

Janner backed up some more to give her more room and just waited until she was ready to speak to him again.

"... M'i yrros..." She covered her eyes with her claws and continued to apologize in reverse.

"Don't apologize..." He sighed and clenched his hands in a developing anger. "It's not your fault, I know that much. Something had to have done this to you... Or someone."

"Uoy dinmer em fo ruoy rehtaf..." Neet shakingly sighed. "Esben... M'i yrros..."

Hearing his father's name spoken perfectly a second time, Janner began to wonder how she was managing that with her jumbled speech. Nevertheless, after such an episode, he didn't dare ask his mother any more questions. Instead, he suggested that they both get some rest before the night had passed. They both retired for the night, Neet suggesting Janner take her mat while she chose to sleep on the wood floor. He figured that maybe in the morning, Neet would come home with him to officially meet his siblings.

However, just before dawn, Neet awoke carefully carried the exhausted Janner all the way back home without his knowing. Upon her arrival, she silently climbed up to the second floor and slipped in the window.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon and the storm had passed when Neet gently tucked Janner into his bed and retreated back to the window to hop out of it.

Just as Neet was about to make her descent, she heard a small voice to her left.

"Hello...?"

Neet was briefly startled, realizing she had been found out. She looked over to the source of the noise and when she found herself looking into her daughter's face, she froze.

Leeli squinted and rubbed her eyes tiredly, the two having an unintentional staring contest.

For Leeli, she had never seen the scarf woman before so she didn't realize that the woman in her room was actually her mother. Fortunately, she had no fear looking at the strange woman and only tiredly watched her, waiting for a response.

"Ileel..." Neet murmured, starting to tear up again. For her, the last time she saw Leeli was when she was only an infant and it struck Neet hard that she hadn't been there for the majority of her life.

"Who are you?" Leeli asked cluelessly but still full of sweetness. "I've never seen you here before."

Neet shrunk back closer to the window and dove out of it like an acrobat.

Leeli gasped with surprise, getting up from her bed and hurrying to the window to make sure the strange woman was okay.

Neet landed unharmed in the grass below and looked back up at Leeli one last time before running back toward the woods on all fours.