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Chasca didn't think she'd focus much on aspects like dreams. They were just… too vague to have any thoughts. She wasn't from the Masters of the Night-Wind, so anything regarding dreams was their forte and she just carried on. However, it was odd how everyone had dreams about recently departed loved ones. The fact all of them had those dreams was curious by itself, and the Traveler seeing Capitano was beyond mysterious. Not that she could do much about it anyway.
The party had come to a close and as she was flying, getting a few supplies before heading back to her tribe, she flew over the Scions of the Canopy, near the stone ruins south of the tribe, and saw Kinich there. She stopped her flight and flew down, until she landed on the dry ground as Kinich kneeled in front of a certain patch of land.
“Location of Death, North West of the stone ruins, South East of the Scions of the Canopy Tribe. Saurian claw marks are present and broken arrows from Hilichurl archers are also present.” Kinich spoke to himself as he wrote it all down in a notebook.
“...Still trying to ID some missing people for Mavuika?” Chasca asked as she walked over.
Kinich blinked before looking up, “Yeah, I know I could do a few more before nightfall, so that's why I'm here. It's curious, the one who died here was from the Collective of Plenty. Why he was so far away from his tribe, I don't know. Not yet anyway.”
Kinich stood up as he pocketed the notebook away. “What are you doing here? Didn't you say you were heading home?”
“I was, but… I wanted to ask you about something.” Chasca said, she had thought about it before, but Kinich didn't mention his dreams to anyone during their surprise sharing session at the party. Sure she spoke up only after being prompted, but still.
“Back at the party, when everyone was talking about dreams. I mentioned that I saw Chuychu, perhaps you were not comfortable with it then, but did you have any similar dreams?” Chasca asked.
“...I don't see why you want to know that, unlike everyone else… I didn't have such a dream.” Kinich said, “These past few nights have been pretty silent if I'm being honest.”
“You… didn't dream?” Chasca asked, “But I was told everyone dreamed. Even the ones who couldn't, those in Sumeru, were able to dream after the Dendro Archon turned off the Akasha system.”
Kinich shook his head, “Perhaps, but these past few nights have been completely empty for me. Can't help but feel like it's waiting for someone, but no one is there.”
“What about your parents? Wouldn't they want to see you? Or even an illusion of them?”
“They left a long time ago,” Kinich said after a moment. “Even then, there's no reason for them to come back. Chasca, is there something you need? You aren't normally the one to get curious about someone's past like this.”
“There's nothing I need, I'm just… confused I suppose.” Chasca said, “I know you are close to Elder Leik, and as far as I know, you were an orphan like me from a long time ago. However, I never knew the details and I didn't mean to pry. I was just… curious, everyone seemed to dream of someone or something close to them, regardless of whether those illusions were real or not.”
Kinich sighed, “Come with me. There's no point in dancing around the subject.”
Chasca blinked, but followed Kinich across the top plains of the mountains. It was quite a distance from where they were initially. They had actually passed by his home a short bit ago now. She didn’t know where they were going, but she felt like… something was off.
“Here we are.” Kinich said, he stopped walking and standing before them was a small grave.
“A grave?”
“This is where I buried my father.” Kinich said, his voice neutral as it usually was, but Chasca could tell he was being more conscious of his tone at the moment. “He fell to his death many years ago. So I buried him here, considering that, he has no reason to see me again.”
“There’s only one grave, is your mother…”
“She left a long time ago, haven’t seen her since.” Kinich said, “I don’t know where she is or how she’s doing. I don’t know if I ever will, but I’ve… made peace with that. The last time I caught a glimpse of her, was a fake caricature created by the abyss when I gained my vision a few years ago. Like was you said earlier, that caricature was nothing like her.”
“Kinich…”
“Does that answer your question?” Kinich asked, still staring at the grave. “Like I said, these past few nights have been silent. No dreams, or visions of people I once knew. So there’s nothing-”
Kinich was cut off as Chasca suddenly grabbed him in a hug. She held him tight.
“Chasca?”
“Don’t say anything, you already have said more than enough.” Chasca said, she understood. Despite his vague words, she could tell. She never understood the full story, only hearing bits and pieces in passing from the chief or Elder Leik. She couldn’t help but feel sadness now, despite her condition, despite her personality, she had a family. Be it qucusaur or human, she had people and saurians who looked out for her ever since she was small.
But Kinich? He was left alone this whole time, the only person to look out for him back then was Elder Leik. Now, even when everyone is getting visits from either real or fake versions of loved ones… even Kinich is left alone again, no person coming to see him, only for there to be a void, only silence. Only loneliness awaited him.
“You know we’re here for you right?” Chasca asked, “No matter what happens, there’s plenty of people who care about you, and we’ll do what we can to make sure you are just as safe and happy as the rest of us.”
“Chasca… where is this coming from?” Kinich asked, not removing himself from her hold. “You’re not… making any sense.”
“I’m sorry, Kinich.” Chasca said as she released him, “I just… I know what it’s like to be on your own. I know what its like to… to be left alone. You’re not alone, not anymore. We’re all here for you, I just… I don’t want you to feel alone. I don’t want you to suffer empty nights.”
“Chasca… I’ll be alright, you don’t need to worry about me.” Kinich said, “I already appreciate the friendships I’ve made, I know there’s more to life than just surviving. I have people and things I want to protect. I’ve made my decision, and I want to keep striving forward. I’ve… made peace with my past, the loneliness isn’t so bad anymore, you know? It’s… better than the nightmares anyway.”
“You’ve been having nightmares too?”
“In the past, I always had them, but I’ve managed to push my way through them. Recently, Ororon gave me a dreamcatcher to stop the nightmares. I don’t know, Ororon is an interesting person, I… don’t know why he did, but I’m grateful. Perhaps it’s simply repayment for me showing him how to plant embercore flowers.”
Chasca couldn’t help but laugh.
“What?”
“I can see why Ifa can get frustrated.” Chasca mused, making Kinich look at her oddly. “It’s nothing… just goes to show that people want to help. You’re important to all of us Kinich. You do know that, right?”
“Of course, I’ve known for awhile now. You, Mualani, Kachina, Xilonen, and the others.” Kinich said, “I know you all care about me, and I care for all of you as well. So I won’t let you down.”
“It isn’t about letting us down,” Chasca said, “Just… be careful and take care of yourself, alright? We don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I promise, now, don’t you need to be somewhere?” Kinich asked as he watched the sun set further away.
“I do, but I’m glad I got to talk to you.” Chasca said, “I now have something to do, just make sure you rest, alright? We need to be at our best strength before the Traveler and Archon set off into the night kingdom.”
“Of course.”
When Kinich went to sleep, he found himself in that black void again. Empty, unmoving, lonely… peaceful. He just sat in the darkness, the glow of his vision being the only source of light in this dark space. He’s come to use the time as a place to think, his brain never stops working in this case. He can’t help it, keeping himself busy was just a means of passing the time in this space. Nothing existed here, nothing visited, or anything of the sort.
He used to get nightmares of his father barging into this space, yelling before grabbing his neck and shoving him to the ground. The pain and feeling from many years ago desperately clawing on his skin and vying for his attention. He used to get nightmares of the many times he’d starved during the harsh winters. Nightmares from too close encounters with wild saurians and even those tainted by the abyss. Nightmares plagued his mind and new survival strategies had to be created to avert such possible scenarios in reality.
Ororon’s dreamcatcher helped make the nightmares stop, but now all he’s left with is an empty void. Nothing but him existed here, the echoes of his past no longer registering and he’s just left alone with his thoughts. Trying to fall asleep again in this void was hard, as the ground was like the cold stone of the Night Kingdom. Still he tried, and managed…
“What… are these?” Kinich asked as he opened the door to his home, all the six heroes were there, and even Mavuika. All of them holding something in there hands, some kind of plush from the looks of it. Ifa was here too with a similar looking plush tucked under his arm.
“We got you presents!” Ifa mused as she shoved what looked like a plush qucusaur chick into his arms.
“I'm sorry… I didn’t mean to tell anyone, just that… after I asked Mualani to help me sew one, she decided to involve everyone.” Chasca said, before handing her own plush, “Here, this one is mine. It’s modeled after Coya. She insisted.”
A slightly bigger qucusaur plush, one modeled after an adult was handed to him.
“We made you one too!” Kachina said excitedly, handing him a Telipesaur plushie, “This one is modeled after Ayo! He still thanks you for helping us.”
“I made you a plush of my favorite pufferfish floaty.” Mualani smiled, “Nothing brightens the mood like the goofy smile on this guy!” ‘
“It was actually a fun exercise, I made you one as well, after one of the saurians my friend cares for.” Iansan said, holding out her own.
“Oh! I uh… It’s based on one of my aphids, they really like the nectar and wanted to help me with this.” Ororon said.
“And here, it’s nothing too major, but it’s based off of something I remembered before I became archon.” Mavuika said, handing him a plush yumkasaur, “It was modeled after one of the younglings my family used to raise.”
“Everyone… this is a lot.” Kinich said, holding onto the plushies, “I… how can I repay you? Giving all of these to me for no cost… it doesn’t sound right.”
“Please! No cost or repayment at all! We just wanted you to have something with you!” Mualani said, before smiling gently at him, “Your place could use some personal touches anyway. It’s a home after all. It should feel like one.”
“Agreed! We all joined in because we saw Chasca.” Kachina said, “You helped us a lot already Kinich, think of this as us paying you back for everything!”
“I still need to thank you again for all the work you’ve been doing after your role as one of the Six Heroes.” Mavuika said, “I want you to sleep well, of everything you have done for Natlan, a good night's sleep is the least you deserve, if not much more than that.”
“It's not that dramatic,” Xilonen chuckled, before giving him a small phlogiston powered stone on a pedestal. “It's a small work lamp. Plushies were never my forte, but take this small thing instead. It will be useful if you have to jot down notes in the middle of the night.”
Kinich smiled slightly as he felt the softness of all the toys and Xilonen gently tucked her small lamp on one of the tables near the door.
“Then thank you, for everything. I'll take good care of them.” Kinich said after a moment.
Kinich had gently placed the gifts at various areas around the bed and his bedroom. Ajaw had decided the telipesaur plush of Ayo would be his personal pillow for tonight. Kinich couldn't help it, but he kept the one Chasca made for him close as he drifted off to sleep.
Once again, he was in that vast empty space. However… it wasn't so empty anymore. A giant qucusaur was resting over him and had her wings tucked to keep him warm. An aphid buzzed around gently, filling the space with a soft buzzing sound. Ayo looked like he was nearby and resting against the qucusaur's plush feathers, the yumkasaur whelp cooing as it snuggled against Kinich. The saurian from the Collective of Plenty playing with Mualani's pufferfish gently nearby alongside a small qucusaur chick.
This space… it wasn't so lonely anymore. Kinich felt himself drift off again. His mind truly resting as the gentle sounds of all these presents kept him warm and safe. They were right… he's not alone anymore.