20 Micca Chariot, The Dreaming Current

"I hope the splint isn't too tight for you."

"Aren't the tighter, the better?"

"It should be tight enough to restrict any movement that affects the arm, but too tight is not good too, just like with everything."

"... Can I call you father?"

"Heh, is there a reason that you shouldn't?"

"Well, it's just that I didn't expect that you would care for me to this extent." There wasn't much expression on her face, but I could see through the tough facade hidden behind her indifferenceness. "Even without being able to see any expression on you, I can see you panicking like a person who's on the verge to lose everything when getting me out of there—"

She then bowed as if everything that had happened was her mistake.

"I'm sorry for freezing back then! If only I stayed calm and rational, the two of us might have left that place unscathed…" the rabbit said from the heart.

"Well, I did choose to have you as my equivalent of a sapling. There might be some changes that regress your mental tolerance, so I should be the one who says sorry…"

No, that's not what a parent should act.

I lightly hopped my body forward, before extending a part of me to caress her head.

"Regardless, the rice has been turned into porridge. What's done has been done, and the two of us managed to leave from there alive. If you still feel muddled by what happens, just make sure that the same thing won't happen again in the future.

"If it does happen again in the future, and you can't stand your ground, then reaffirm yourself to do even better next time.

"As such, the repetition of failure doesn't exactly state the lack of progress. Contrary to it, a positive acknowledgement of your effort and goal will ensure your mindset to slowly overcome any trial.

"Afterall, bravery is not an absence of fear, but the mastery of fear. The faster you accept things and move forward, the faster you get yourself in a place where others stay to regret."

"Uuuu…"

Gently, I tried to hug this whimpering cinnamon ball out of her worry.

It didn't take much time until she managed to go back to her reserved mental state. She is sure to be an amazing child if I had one.

Oh wait, she is my daughter.

The sun was nearly consumed by the night, an afternoon of everglow on otherworldly fauna and curious critters of bugs and fey nurturing the air and ground.

And now that there was no longer an emergency in our hand, I asked this wise daughter of mine to take us somewhere safe to survive the night.

Afterall, my experience with the night had never been pleasant back on earth, especially now that we were in a wilderness with possible unknown hunters of the night and hostile nocturnal entities—we are in a world where magic exists after all, so it's not bad to stay cautious and skeptical.

As far as I believed, the night in the wilderness always conceals its dangers beneath its serene facade. As darkness descends, the wild becomes an enigmatic realm fraught with peril. Shadows conceal predators on the prowl, unseen cliffs beckon missteps, and biting cold can sap one's strength. 

The absence of civilization's comforting lights intensifies vulnerability, while unfamiliar sounds amplify primal instincts. To navigate this jungle jam, one requires utmost caution, keen senses, and a deep respect for nature's unforgiving aspects. And for the unprepared, the night in the wilderness can transform an adventure into a perilous ordeal…

Speaking of magic earlier, I should ask the rabbit to teach me that after this.

"Father, I think it's about time."

"Hmm?"

"To give me a name," she sheepishly said, before facing forward once again as we trodden the land.

"Oh right, though, you don't want to use your real name? Or do you not have one to begin with?"

"I do have a name, but now that my bond has been carved with you, it should be father's responsibility now to cast an epithet onto my existence."

"That's a grand way of saying it…"

A name huh.

Actually, I haven't even told her my name yet. Though, I wonder if that information was already given to her when the resonance was commenced.

I stopped in my tracks, and so did she.

After she fully faced me, I began molding a sentence to finally answer her.

"My name is Occam Chariot, as my daughter, your name will be Micca Chariot."

"Ooooh, what does it mean?"

"It is a biblical name, coming from the Hebrew name Micah, it translates to the question 'Who is like God?', a question with many ways to interpret it, and as well my prayer to whoever held the fate and creation up above to ensure your future to be as grand as anyone could perceive.

"I find it a fitting name for a daughter of someone like me! Ahahaha!"

It might be a playful hubris that I cast upon my own very daughter.

I just hope that it wouldn't burden her with expectation of anything of mortal attachment.

To be more free than anyone, to be able to hold their own fate or even mold the fate of others, someone who appears to be nearing the dominance to that of divinity.

Something that I wished upon myself, my beloved, and everyone I cherished for eternity.

"So you want me to ascend to godhood." She nodded with a sparkle in her eyes. "Mmm, mmm, affirmative."

"It is not in a literal manner…"

Alas, her head had already lost in the cloud where gods and deities lived. I just hoped that our souls won't be the same.

Though, looking at how energetic she was compared to before, she seemed to be liking the name I gave her.

"Oh right." With her usual indifferent expression, albeit the sparkly aftermath still exists in her eyes, she turned back to me in a casual manner. "I think we might die tonight."