189 Little Surprise

From the foot of the tree, a Yonie erupted out of the ground. Propelled by the sudden yank from the unexpected visitors.

Without a moment of hesitation, he broke out into loud tears and began screaming. Each scream was loud enough to make them light-headed.

Ether quickly pulled the Yonie out of a Feral's hands, then got to work on calming him down. He started by gently rubbing his cheek against the Yonie's, a gesture of kindness.

No matter how much he tried, the Yonie had already swung its cry. From the tunnel, six Yomies bursted out, ready to rip them apart.

Ferals growled and unsheathed their claws, preparing to greet them with full fury. Until Ether ignited himself, casting the light everywhere.

Yomies covered their fragile eyes, making sure they didn't go blind by the sudden flash of light. Even the Yonie felt the sudden warmth as he was engulfed by a power he rarely had experienced.

"Please, little one. Do not be afraid, I am not going to hurt you," Ether quickly told the shaking Yonie.

"Bah! Hanarqu, yoshido! (Stop! I don't want to die!)" he screamed.

Ether brought the Yonie in for a hug, then he began to comb his hair with his fingers. The long, smooth texture felt soft on his fingers while he tried to calm the little one down.

"Heri, eshdi! (I won't, I promise!)" Ether gleefully replied in Icitru.

That's when the Yonie figured out the soft tone in his chest while he spoke. It felt motherly, almost. He wanted to hug whoever the Yomie holding him was, so he did.

Orako pulled back, followed by his Ferals. They knew better than to interfere, especially since they were there with peaceful intensions.

Most Yomies stayed back beside the entrance, but some took the opportunity to push forward and bring back their little one. As they strode closer, Ether realized just how weird they looked.

Every Yomie had some sort of black patch over their nose and eyes, a bit like a mask. Their skin was grey, only ever receiving sunlight in very small portions. And their hair was completely brown.

"Give us back our Yonie!" one Yomie demanded in Icitru.

"He is adorable," Ether replied in the same language. "Very loving, I can tell. Who's the lucky one?"

That same Yomie glanced to her allies, who exchanged confused looks with her. "What are you? You don't look like you come from here. Yet we can sense you as a... both. You are a Yomie and Yonie!"

"Soft!" the Yonie interrupted. "Her cheek is very sooooft! I want more rubs!"

Out of kindness, Ether agreed. Pressing his face against the Yonie's, then he moved gently moved his head in a pattern. Comforting the little one.

"Yonie! Er... Yomie..? You, give us that Yonie back to us!" she pushed again.

The Yonie did something that surprised Ether and Orako. He began to chirp, showing his enjoyment in the moment. Just like a Feral, in fact, it was perfectly like one.

"Whoa... you can chirp like a Feral??" Ether asked in amazement.

"Thank you!" the Yonie ignored the question.

He let go of the little one. Once he was free from Ether's grasp, he turned to run back to his family. Where he disappeared beneath the ground, leaving the Yomies above to take care of them.

Orako carefully treaded closer to Ether, bowing his head with every step. Showing he was peaceful to the alerted Yomies.

"We do not wish to fight the natives of this land," he said.

"Yet you have pulled one of our defenses from out of the ground, why? Is your kind really that stupid? Do not try this again. This is your first, second, and last warning!" a Yomie growled.

Ether loudly cleared his throat, bringing the attention onto him. "We are sorry. All we were doing was exploring this forest - it's so massive and the canopy overhead is so dense. Wow."

She, the same Yomie that threatened them, stepped forward. Carelessly getting closer to a possible attack, but she was aware of this. And continued regardless.

"It's Olavin-Faa, Yarno's densest and biggest forest. We are keen on staying here at all costs, so do us a favor and run that way," she jerked her head to the east.

"Where will 'that way' take us? Perhaps we should be satisfied with what we've seen and return some other time. What do we think?" Ether said in a fatherly voice.

Orako, along with the other Ferals, dropped to one knee while growling. They were hesitant on leaving, this was their home. But they knew they weren't meant to stay there forever.

At some point, they had to return home. Where their new Neddy were and food was plentiful, away from the Glykers and sudden visitors advocating peace.

With that, Ether slowly backed away from the Yomies. Counting his steps as he walked, by the time he returned to his pack, he reached eighteen steps. Then he dropped a small ember on the ground.

It quickly burned away, leaving the grass around it as he found it. Ether smiled, lifting one hand up to wave as he and his Ferals returned the way they came from.

The Yomies continued to eye them down as they vanished from their gazes. A process sped up by the Ferals suddenly leaping onto and off trees, rampaging through the woods at a quick pace.

Ether ascended over the forest floor, then flew off with them. His bright wings shown a spotlight on him as he danced through the enclosed space without a care in the world.

While they returned to their Sky Beasts, another expedition was taking place on the mountain range behind Digon that stemmed into Yarno. Its steep, icy terrain made them believe life did not exist there.

Until they began to discover signs of life existing not above, but below the surface. Jakery, Hazen, and Valentine quickly learned evolution made it possible for Variants to exist up there.

Even the ones that shouldn't be in the frigid temperatures of a mountain range as vast as this one.