Jaek

Jaekel nearly jumped when he went into the temporary housing building. He was startled to see Talon just sitting on the floor of the front room. In the dark no less.

The young looking male was sitting cross legged and looked relaxed. But it was rather startling.

"Oh…hi." Jaekel managed.

Talon smiled at him, a big warm smile, "Did I startle you? I'm sorry."

"Weren't you going to bed?"

"To rest. Its hard to explain." Talon tilted his head, "I rest, but its not quite the same as how most people sleep. I'm never totally out of it. Just mostly shut down. Um, I don't fully know how to explain it. Its racial though."

Jaekel nodded. He was pretty sure Talon was not human. He wasn't sure what he was.

He just headed off to bed and dropped into a deep sleep.

"Several decades prior, in the ruins of Nix'Ryl,

The sound of coughing broke the silence.

"Are you okay, Zilanius?" The reddish gold haired woman, Astaria, patted his back.

"I'm fine. Its no worse than usual." Zilanius smiled though his eyes had a haunted look to them. "Where's Zervin anyhow?"

"He was supposed to be gathering firewood. Oh, I hope he didn't start losing it again…" Astaria sighed.

As they fells silent the sound of a cry broke through the air and Zilanius immediately turned around and swept up a bundle. He crooned softly, "There, there, pumpkin. I'm here. Papa's here."

He bounced the bundled one-year old up into the air. The cries turned to giggles.

Astaria watched this with a sad look on her eyes, she went to speak again, "Zi-"

He just shook his head, a grim look on his face, "I don't want to hear it. I'm going to do what I have to, but I don't like it. But do you know when Zervin will be back? My daughter is getting hungry."

"I'm he -he – here." A singsong voice answered. A man weaved into the clearing, arms filled with wood. He did not look very stable, his eyes possessing a wild untamed look to them.

"Oh, there you are. I was starting to get worried you lost it and ran off."

"Almost did." He sang as he dumped the word down, and raised his hand to point at it.

"No. Let me." She pushed his hand down, and then flicked her fingers at the wood. It burst into a cheerful flame.

She then knelt down and began to cook. She made oatmeal and then put tiny bits of meat in it. Zilanius took it from her and began feeding his child, sitting on a log as he did so. He crooned softly to the child, a loving sad smile on his face.'"

That was where the dream ended. Jaekel woke up feeling a bit sad for some reason. He could feel the pain of the young father. He did not understand it.

And where was the mother from the previous dream? Why wasn't she with them?

The young prince frowned. He did not know why he found that scene to be sad. Why it made him want to cry.

But there was so much sadness in it. The only person who wasn't sad was the young child, but she was too young to feel the sadness permeating throughout the scene.

Jaekel stood up and left the room he had slept in. Talon was no longer resting. He was nowhere in sight actually.

He did not worry about it too much and left. He wanted to see Rune. He felt so depressed now and needed a hug.

He found her just as she was exciting the building she had slept in and hugged her from behind.

She let out a startled noise, but relaxed immediately, and patted his head, "Dream?"

"Yes, it wasn't exactly a nightmare. Just sad. I can't explain it."

She turned around and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't say a word. She didn't need to. Just hugging her was already settling his emotions down. It was even better when she hugged him back.

Whatever would he do without his best friend?

After a while of just holding her, he pulled away, "Thank you."

"Anytime." She laughed. "What are best friends for?"

"Making fun of you, teasing you, but always having your back when you need it." He laughed. She rolled her eyes.

"Wanna see if there is anything for breakfast here?" Jaekel asked. She just shrugged.

"Its good to eat something." He said.

"I eat well. Its just food though." She walked beside him, "Doesn't really matter what it is."

His best friend was so not picky. She did eat well enough – nothing like her brother who had to be reminded constantly to go eat. A trait he had apparently inherited from his father. Though Kaldrek had apparently gotten better under the influence of his wife. Who was a total foodie.

Her daughter had not inherited that. To Rune food was just meant to keep her going. Oh, she would sometimes savor it but she would usually eat more mechanically. There were some foods she did like better than others – she had a slight fondness for spicy foods. And she really liked chocolate.

The village did in fact provide them with breakfast. It was a rather large spread of bacon, eggs, rolls, fruit, and oats. Once again, the whole village sat down for the meal like a really big family.