In the Midst of the Lonely Sea of Loneliness 8

The front door slowly creaked open, causing Janner to cringe in worry that he would be heard sneaking out but he soon relaxed when he heard Podo's snoring resume. He carefully stepped out onto the porch and then quickly ran toward the forest so no one would see him.

"I'm not sure where she would be..." Janner thought to himself. "But if she's managed to stay out of sight for so long, she's probably stayed in the forest."

His boots rustled in the tall grass before he leapt over a fence and entered the woods.

Janner had read about these woods; it was full of all sorts of dangerous creatures. Thankfully his uncle Artham had taught him how to deter some of the larger animals in case he was ever in a pinch.

Subsequently, Janner came prepared. In his bag, he packed some herbs from his grandma's garden, a compass, and a snack in case he or his mother were hungry. Janner didn't intend to be away from the house long but he didn't know how his interaction with Nia would go. He just hoped that once he found her, she'd show some sign that she cared about their family and perhaps return to them permanently.

As he got deeper into the forest, he began to call her by name, "Nia? Nia, are you there?" Janner felt odd using his mother's first name but he didn't think she would answer to a random child calling her 'mom' in the middle of the forest at night. He continued to call her and wander deeper into the woods with a hope she would miraculously turn up.

Janner called and called but as the hours passed on, he started to become tired and discouraged. Then a hard thought came to his mind, "Maybe she doesn't want to he found?" He wondered. "But why? Why wouldn't she want to? She was crying when I last saw her... Why was she crying?"

"Nia!!!" Janner shouted but quickly silenced himself when he heard a familiar rattle in the distance.

"Is that...?" He carefully approached another edge of the forest and peeked through the break in the trees at just the right time to witness the black carriage rushing on the road out of Glipwood. Janner could barely make it out but he could tell the carriage had found yet another victim and was hurrying away to never be seen again.

"Oh no..." Janner knelt behind a bush to be sure he wouldn't be seen but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the nightmarish scene unfolding before him. "I hope that's not another kid..."

Before the carriage could completely ride off into the night, a dark figure suddenly sprang from the trees onto the top of the carriage.

"What?" Janner couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What's going on over there?"

The two fang drivers were promptly kicked off of the carriage, poofing into dust as they hit the ground before the carriage screeched to a halt.

"... Is that... the Florid Sword?" Janner wondered, becoming bolder as he stepped out of the line of trees to get a closer look.

As he got closer, it became obvious that whoever it was was struggling to use the key to open the carriage to let out the captive. This led to the figure becoming frustrated and just ripping the door off entirely.

"Og emoh. Nur tsaf. Yats neddih llit gninrom." A woman's voice instructed a child in gibberish as she timidly exited the carriage.

"Th-thank you, miss..." A young girl thanked the woman before running back down the road toward Glipwood.

When the woman in question came to the front of the carriage where the lantern was, Janner was close enough to finally see who had just saved that girl; it was the scarf woman!

Janner's eyes widened. "Mom?" He wondered as he began to near the scarf woman more recklessly, hopeful that the ideal situation would play out just as well as it did in his head.

To return the carriage to its sender, Neet slapped the horse's rear so that it would start up again along its nightly path. No one would be arriving in Torrboro tonight, just the way she liked it.

"Um..." Janner reached out his hand just behind her. "Nia...?"

The sound of her own name startled Neet to the point she turned around ready to strike whoever had said it. However, she managed to stop herself before she scratched Janner across the face.

Janner's mouth hung open with surprise as he looked at the claws she had for hands.

Since she had been using her claws, Neet had neglected to keep them hidden as she usually did. They were like that of of a panther's, being black and feline. They were on full display for Janner to see and it was scary for him to see such claws so close to his face.

"Rennaj...?" Neet squinted her eyes at him in confusion. "Yhw era tuo ereh enola?"

Janner was speechless for a moment before he managed to form words to respond. "Do... do you know who I am? I'm... I'm your son."

Neet stared back at him for an unsettling amount of time before slowly reaching out one of her claws. The nails retracted back into the claw, making it much softer when she brushed the hair out of Janner's face.

"I wonk ohw uoy era." Her eyes began to fill with tears.

Janner frowned when he saw Neet becoming upset as he had seen her in the alley and attempted to consol her. "Don't cry... It's alright. I just... Want to know why you haven't been home all this time."

Neet's bottom lip quivered but she forced herself to gently push Janner away. "Uoy evah ot og emoh. S'ti oot suregnad ot eb dnuora em."

"I... I don't know what you're saying..." Janner puzzled but refused to leave. "I'm not leaving you out here alone."

"Rennaj, esaelp, og!" Neet shouted and pointed in the direction of Igiby cottage. "Sganf... Ll'yeht yrt ot ekat uoy oot!"

"I'm not leaving until I know why you're hiding from us!" Janner didn't understand his mother's words but he could tell she was trying to get him to leave her and he wasn't about to let her go so easily.

His refusal to listen made Neet snarl like a giant cat and she swiftly picked him up over her arm before beginning to run through Glipwood forest.

"Hey!" Janner exclaimed in surprise and tried to get loose from her grip.

"Emoh... Emoh si erehw Rennaj sgnoleb. Ton Neet. Neet si ni elbuort " Neet told him as she ran, saying her own nickname in the correct way while saying everything else in reverse. "Rennaj t'nac teg ni elbuort. Rennaj dluow teg turh. Od uoy dnatsrednu?" She rambled.

"I don't understand, mom! I don't know what you're saying!" Janner cried, trying to get her to stop running toward home. "I don't want to leave you alone!"

Neet sniffled her nose and her voice began to get squeaky as she cried, "I t'nod tnaw taht rehtie tub I t'nac eomc htiw uoy..." Her pace slowed, the sorrow in her heart weighing her feet down.

Janner could tell she was slowing down because she was sad so he kept talking to her. "Mom, don't you want to see Tink- I mean, Kalmar? And Leeli? They'd love to meet you! We can go back. No one has to know you're there if you don't want them to!"

"Ho, Rennaj..." Neet finally stopped in her tracks and set him back down on the ground in front of her. She began to sob like she did earlier that day but forced herself to be quiet in fear she'd attract toothy cows to them.

"Mom..." Janner hesitantly took her large paws into his hands. "Please come home. Grandma Wendolyn and Grandpa Podo want you back too."

"I t'nac... I tsuj t'nac..." Neet struggled to speak she was weeping so much.

"Please..." Janner stepped forward and gave his mother a tight hug with tears running down his face. "Don't make me leave you..."

Neet returned the hug with even more tightness. She couldn't bear to push him away again after the things he had said. Poor Neet didn't want him to go but because of her own in conflict of interest, she worried he might get hurt if she went with him.

"Is there anything I can say to convince you to come with me...?" Janner asked.

"..." Neet said nothing but instead, kept hugging her son like it would be the last time.