Enemies In The Dark (Part 1)

10 years later

The day was bright and far too hot. Although Lyra had worked in the sun for the past years, he seemed rather irritated with the heat that day, putting his hand over his grass woven hat to provide more shade. He glared up at sun for a brief moment, before looking down to the water beneath his feet.

Reaching in, he pulled out a net with thin, yet long silver fishes. It didn't seem like a lot, but it was just enough for two people. Putting his catch in a woven basket and casting the net over his shoulder, Lyra heads back from the small beach to the little campsite he and Sukori had set up.

As soon as he arrives, he stiffens at the voice of young boys chatting. There at his campsite, stood a now sixteen year old Sukori, weaving herself a fan. Her jet black hair was down and casted over her shoulder, framing her small head, while her gold colored eyes remained fixed on the fan despite the group before her. She was indeed a pretty girl, and though she looked like she ignored the village boys, she still responded to each of them with a polite tone.

"Have you ever thought of settling down?" One of the boys had asked.

"No. It actually hasn't crossed my mind at least once." She responded as she folded a leaf over another.

"Really? Why not?"

"My brother and I travel quite a lot for a reason. We can't stay in one place for so long, otherwise we'd be in deep trouble."

"What kind of trouble do you speak of?"

She only picked up her head, to give the boy a smile and continue her weaving.

One of the other boys seemed to have lit up a bit as he got an idea. "Why not settle in our village for a bit longer? Have a look around the place and... Perhaps we can convince you to stay?"

"That's not going to happen any time soon." Lyra scoffed, sauntering over to the group and Sukori.

Seeing the tall brunette, all of the boys took steps back away from Sukori, muttering apologies as he stopped before them. "What are you boys doing here?" He asked, his voice deep and intimidating, "Aren't you supposed to be helping your parents with house chores or hunting?"

The boys gave each other nervous glances, then turned back to Lyra, bowing their heads slightly. "O-Our apologies, sir. We just wanted to have a chat."

"Is that so? I see... Well, this young lady can't chat any longer, for I need her to help me cook up lunch."

"Uh- We can help with-"

He cut them off, "No thanks. One person is enough. Move along now." He waved at them and gave a slight smile. However, the smile didn't seem the least bit friendly, for his eyes seemed to have glared.

The boys shuddered under the threatening look and bowed their heads again. Without another word, they hurried off in the direction of their village.

"Ha." The end of Lyra's lip curved into a smug smirk, yet when he turned to Sukori, she had frown.

Sighing to herself, she goes back to weaving her fan, yet spoke, "It wouldn't hurt for you to be a little nicer and less threatening to every villager we talk to."

Lyra didn't respond, and instead, placed everything down and took off his hat. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he says, "Maybe you should just stay in the tent next time." The girl only gives him a glance. "Every time we settle near a village and I leave to get food, I always come back to find you surrounded by other villagers."

"But it's too hot in the tent sometimes and I would like to keep Pulan company." As she said that, she turned her head towards a more shady area, where a carabao stood. The large animal was eating a patch of grass under a few palm trees flicking its ears and tail as flies flew around. Slowly, Pulan looked in the duo's direction before going back to eating without a care in the world.

Sukori continued, "And hey, if you don't want me hanging around these villagers, how about I take a look at the cave near by this time? You can cook the fish on your own."

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

At this, Lyra rolled his eyes. "Someone needs to keep watch of the camp, and you're still too young to go in the caves on your own yet. When you're old enough and I could see that you're cable of handling a group of night crawlers on your own..." He gave a nonchalant shrug as he sat down, "I will consider being the one to stay behind."

"So you're saying I'm not strong enough yet?" Sukori had stopped weaving her fan and put her attention on the fish.

Lyra spoke bluntly, "Yes. Not only are you not strong enough, but are you confident that you'd be able to find the dark plant in an unfamiliar cave? We don't know how big it is and how deep the plant could be in there."

The girl only frowned, and looked over to the brunette in silence. Although she pouted as she stared, Lyra could tell she was mocking him in her head.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just wait a little longer until I feel you're ready to search dark plants on your own. If it makes you feel better, when I go out to search, check out the village for me and gather as much information as possible, okay?"

"Oh? So now you'll be fine if I talk to the village boys?"

"If it's just about the village itself, yes."

A smile made a way to her face, "Alright, fine. This will do for now, I guess... However, if the rumors about the night crawlers here are true, please come back safely. I don't want you getting so badly hurt before our hunt tonight."

It was Lyra's turn to smile. However, this smile was a lot more gentle and soft. Reaching for Sukori's head, he ruffles her dark hair as he said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. I promise."

.•°•✿•°•.

After they had their lunch, Lyra took a bit of a break for his stomach, right before he could head off to find a cave near the village. Staying behind, Sukori knew she had to get information about the village, yet she didn't know just where to start. Afterall, she was just a traveler, and she really couldn't enter the village withought the chief knowing. It just felt too rude for her to come in, uninvited.

Really having not much else to do, she spends some time talking to the carabao, Pulan. While feeding her animal companion a banana, all she could hope was to run into one of the villagers again... Not seeming suspicious that she's hanging around near by, at least. Luckily for her, one of the boys from befor come back around, and if she could remember, his name was Matua.

"Hello again," She greets with a smile, catching Matua's attention, "Looks like you're in a bit of a hurry. Are you running from someone?"

"Ah, it's you!" Matua seemed surprised, but smiled back at her. as he approached. "I guess you can say that," he replied, "I was just getting away from my younger siblings."

"I guess siblings could be a hassle." Though she doesn't have younger siblings, she does have Lyra to relate to whenever the topic of family comes up.

Now that they had spoke about siblings for just a moment, Matua asked, Oh, and how about your brother?"

"Hm?"

"Is he not here with you right now?"

Sukori only shrugged, taking another banana to feed Pulan. "He's out right now."

At this, Matua seemed relieved for a bit, but then his face suddenly changed to that of concern. Sukori knew what such an expression meant, yet still chose to play a bit oblivious before he could ask. "Uh..." He started, "Just where did he go this time? Didn't you guys just have lunch?"

Again, she shrugs, seeming completely unbothered. "I'm not too sure. He always heads off somewhere after lunch. I guess he just went to explore for a bit."

"Well... Hopefully he comes back safely. Surely before you guys came here, you did hear what has been happening ro this village recently, right?"

There it is.

"Ah... The rumors about the night crawlers?" She asked.

"Yes... Waterspring village is known for the beautiful waterfall near by, and we honestly don't blame travellers stopping by for a look and all. So as long as they respect the area and the ancestors that used to reside here, they're very much welcomed to explore." Matua seemed proud as he spoke about his village and the waterfall, but he no longer held that pride as he continued. "But recently... The night crawlers situation here has gotten so bad, some of the villagers and travellers have been attacked during the day time as well."

Sukori frowned at his words, "So... The rumors are all true then? It really is that bad?"

"It is!" Matua nearly shouted, though Sukori didn't flinch. She only stared at him, expressionless as he went on, "Obviously the number of attacks during the day are not as huge as the ones that took place at night, but... Travellers are really underestimating the situation, and the next thing we know, we would find there bodies close to the waterfall."

Sukori seemed to have forgotten to play the character of a terrified girl, for she simply took another banana to peel for herself. Seeing this, Matua was reasonably upset, "You... Are you taking this seriously or not?"

"I am taking this seriously." She replied bluntly, "I just... I was just thinking about how the night crawlers would attack during the day."

And outside the cave, no less.

"I'm not too sure if I'm correct, but are they not scared of light? I'm sure they'd burn too if the light is directly from the sun." Saying this, Sukori could now only think about what Lyra would've found when he comes back from investigation.

Matua nods, "I heard about the sun thing too... That's why the chief thought the situation was so odd and serious, we don't blame him for calling elementalists trained from the east country."

Sukori's blood suddenly runs cold as soon as she hears, elementalist, and she froze. She didn't even realize that Pulan had taken her banana for himself. "Wait... From the east country?"

"Yes. I think they'll be coming with a sun child too."

"Sun child..." A child like her as well. Sukori didn't know how to feel about the situation anymore. If there is going to be an elementalist coming, especially one from the east, for sure they would know if Lyra was around and get suspicious of him. She's not too sure if the other sun child would tell if she was around too, though it would be troubleseome if they could.

"Um.. " She asked, quite nervously at that, "The elementalist... When are they coming over?"

"Today."

She flet her heart drop.

"We're having a feast for them tomorrow though, when the night cralwer situation is handled with. I can talk with the chief myself if you'd like to enter the village and join us."

The girl didn't know how to respond to Matua. At the moment, she couldn't even think about the answer. All that was in her head was to find Lyra and tell him that they have to leave. Immediately.