Chapter 111 Survivors

As Matt was being dragged into his room, on the otherside of the valley, Amber began looking around her.

"Where did they go?" She asked herself.

She looked around, only seeing buildings and stalls, not the people she was with.

"This isn't good. Should I stay put or..." As she thought of this, she began looking around frantically.

Then, someone approached her from the back saying. "Are you lost?"

Amber jumped a little bit because of the sudden question coming from behind her. She then looked back to see who said that to her.

When she turned around, she saw a girl, meeting her brown eyes directly at eye level. She wore a formal looking uniform, the once the guards wore.

The girl, looking to be around Amber's age, asked with a smile. "Oh, sorry, did I scare you?"

"Ah, a-a little."

"Well, I'm sorry about that."

"No problem."

Amber then continued to stare at the girl infront of her, making the girl feel a little uncomfortable.

As Amber continued to stare, she her way onto the girl forehead. Giving her brown hair and her cat ears a passing glance, Amber couldn't help but be drawn to the large scar across the girls forehead.

Realizing what Amber was fixated on, the girl then said with a bright smile. "Oh, don't worry about that. That was done a long time ago."

Amber shook her head, snapping her free from her stare before she said. "There's no need to explain. I apologize for staring."

"It's fine. It's my fault for not covering it up. Now then, about my question earlier, are you lost?"

Feeling a little awkward, Amber asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you act like one."

"Am I really that easy to read?"

"Yes..."

"I see... You're right. I am lost. Can you help me?"

"Of course."

Then, the two girls began walking together.

"So, what's your name?"

"Uuuhhh, Amber?"

"Why do you sound so unsure?"

"I don't know."

"Fair. Mine is Catrine."

"Nice to meet you, Catrine."

"Nice to meet you too, Amber."

As they continued to walk, Catrine asked. "So, where are you heading?"

"I don't know. I mean, I am lost."

With a slight smile on her face, Catrine stated. "Not that. I mean, where are you staying? The place your heading to."

"Uhhh, I don't know. I never bothered to look or ask."

"Uhh, that's a bit of an issue. No wonder your lost."

"Is there a map of this city or something? Actually, no. That won't help at all since I still don't know where I'm going."

"Yeah, that's true. Then, do you have people with you? Maybe they're looking for you?"

"Ah, yes. I was in a group. I think I last saw them around a river."

"You mean a canal?"

"Yes, that."

"Sorry, Amber. But there's a lot of canals weaving through the hilly landscape of the city. It would take long time to look everywhere."

"Well... if that's the case... what do we do?"

"We give you to the lost and found."

"Uhhhh..." Amber just kinda groaned at Catrine's face upon hearing her proposition.

"Don't like it?" Catrine asked with a smile.

"Maybe. I don't think I like being refered to as a someone that belongs to lost and found. Especially not someone who looks to be my age, I'm no longer a child afterall."

"Hehe, now that you say it. How old are you, Amber?"

"Fifteen."

"Wow! Me too!" Catrine said with a bright smile.

As Amber awkwardly stood there, not knowing how to react to Catrine's cheerful energy, it was now Catrine's turn to stare at her.

"Now that you mention it, we look quite a bit alike."

"Huh?"

As Amber stood there confused, Catrine pulled her in and pointed at the clear water that's in the canal next to them.

"Look! We are both cat girls!" Catrine entusiastically stated.

Now that Catrine mentioned it, Amber gazed at both of their reflection as she thought. "We are."

She noted that aside from the hair color, her's being black while Catrine's brown, they look very alike.

"But..."

Amber couldn't help but stare at Catrine scar that laid on her forehead.

Then, completely unaware of what was going on Amber's head, Catrine continued. "Are you sure you're not my long lost sister or something?"

"N-no, I don't think so." Amber replied trying to take her attention away from Catrine's scar.

"Why do you look so serious, Amber? Cheer up! It was only a joke."

"I-I know. No need to scream."

"Sorry..."

Then, they continued on their walk.

"Now that sending you to the lost and found is out of the options. The only solution I can think of is walking along the banks and hoping you have a recollection of the landmarks."

"Uh, I don't think that's possible."

"Huh? What makes you say that, Amber?"

"Well, you see. The reason I got separated was because quite literally everyone was trying to give me something. I couldn't take it anymore so I just ran away, losing my friends in the process."

With an awkward smile, Catrine said. "Yeah, the people around here can be a little too much. But that doesn't mean they want to cause you harm."

Then, an agitated expression formed on Amber's face as she asked. "Now that we are on the topic, why are they like this?! Why are they trying to fill me up with gifts and food?! What are they trying to do?!"

As Amber began lashing out her hidden frustration, Catrine, with a small smile, replied. "They just love our people, Amber. I don't also know the reason, but I kinda like it."

Then, Amber glared at her, saying. "Easy for you to say since I don't think I saw people trying to stuff your face with food."

Almost immediately after saying that, a person from the side approached them.

"Miss Catrine." Said the adult man.

With an awkward expression, Catrine replied. "Catrine is just fine. I am younger than you afterall."

"I understand. You see, the refugees are getting low on sleeping spaces. We don't know what to do."

"Can't you just ask for more?"

"We could. But we don't want to push our luck. We have already been given enough." Said the man as he bowed his head.

With a bright smile, Catrine replied. "Don't worry about it. Everyone here is willing to help you guys. Just go ahead and ask for help, and people of the Sun region will come to your aid."

"If you say so... Now then, I'll go back to tell the rest. Thank you so very much, Catrine." Said the man as he did another bow.

With a brightest smile she could muster, Catrine said. "No problem."

Soon after that, the man left the two. Catrine turned her attention towards Amber as she said. "Oh, sorry about that, Amber. Work issues, don't worry about it."

Amber, who was quietly observing on the side the entire time, replied with a question. "What was wrong with him, Catrine? He was so frail." Amber said, looking very concerned.

Catrine's cheerful mood then turned into a serious one as she replied. "They're the survivors of what happened in Viridis almost a month ago."

Amber, looking very surprised, asked. "Viridis?!"

"Yes. About a month ago, a battle took place on Viridis Island. It was between the residents... against the beastfolk who they enslaved."

As Catrine began speaking in a more serious manner, not a trace of the cheerfulness from earlier, a nervous sweat rolled down Amber's face.

"Actually, it wasn't against the residents at all. It was against a damned peacekeeper..." Catrine said, a hint of anger in her tone.

Suddenly, it all went away as Catrine said. "Oh, sorry about my language."

"N-no problem at all." Amber nervously replied.

"Let's continue on our walk, Amber."

"Sure thing..."

As they walked, Catrine continued on speaking.

"I know that the people from around here are a bit too much sometimes, Amber."

Amber just nervously nodded.

"But, you got to understand, Amber. They mean no harm. They simply love us..."

"..."

"And as for the rest of us... The ones who suffered from the hands of Viridis and Titan... their love is a god send that we never tasted before."

"..."

"I know you have been staring at my scar for a while now, Amber."

"N-no...I ...Yes. I'm sorry."

"There's no need, Amber. Just to clear it up, I did not receive this from an abuser. It was just an accident involving me being a baby and a bed."

Amber just nodded.

"But, that doesn't mean I was immune to what our people felt. I was from Titan afterall. My family only got here because of the incident that Golden Hands caused a few years back."

Amber lowered her head as they continued to walk.

"I'm not sure if you know this, Amber. Since I don't think you know the world outside of these mountains..."

"From what I hear, Viridis is brutal against our kind. Making them work in the mines, not giving them proper shelter, and just overall, bad people."

"Fortunately for me, I didn't feel any of that. I was born on Titan, where everything is better for us, but not the best."

"I was too young at the time, but from what my parents told me. It was only a little bit better than Viridis."

"Sure. We were given homes, jobs, freedom, rights, everything we could ever dream of."

"But... there was just this... feeling in our hearts. The feeling of not belonging. The feeling of unacceptance."

"It might be because of the air around Titan, but I think it's a little something called Survivor's syndrome, or something like that."

"It's just that... compaired to the poor souls that were born under Viridis... we were lucky, incredibly lucky."

"Just imagine... going to school, going back home with your friends, giving your parents a loving kiss, imagine just... living a normal life."

"And when you think of how the others are living... you couldn't help but feel a little guilty, don't you?"

"We were able to experience life like a normal person, like everyone should, but not everyone is that lucky."

"Just take the both of us, Amber."

"Our only visible animalistic traits are our cat ears."

"We can just simply hide them, and we can blend in. Live a normal life, like everyone else."

"But sometimes... I think to myself... is the only way to live a happy life achieved... by just... closing and averting your eyes?"

"Avert your eyes from the indecency that was happening in front of you? Blinding yourself to avoid seeing the harsh reality? Live in a fantasy made only within our mind?"

"I think not."

"Although it might hurt, we still have to face the cold reality someday."

"One of these days, these mountains will crumble."

"One of these days, those walls will fall to the ground."

"One of these days... your parents will no longer be able to shield your innocent lies."

"What will we do then?"

"Find another lie to live by?"

"Find a way to hide the pain?"

"Find a hole and cower from the rest of the world?"

"I think not!"

"If we don't do anything now, what will happen?"

"Nothing! That's what."

"If we continue to do nothing, what will happen?"

"This world will stay the same is what's going to happen!"

"If we continue to live in our fantasies, how many more lives are we willing to pay in order to continue living like that?"

"Nothing. I will pay nothing, I won't pay a single coin, for anyone's life. You can't put a price on it no matter what!"

"That's actually why I became a city guard even though I'm still young and full of potential. Maybe if I could do my part, everything will change for the better."

"Of course. My parents wanted me to live a normal life, away from any sorts of danger, even telling me multiple times, 'One person can't change the entire world'."

"Heh! Now that I think about it. Maybe I'm living in a fantasy of my own. Don't you think, Amber?"

Catrine then finally looked over to Amber, who was quaking all over.

And without a single word, Amber ran.

But, before she could get away, Catrine caught her hand asking. "What's wrong, Amber? Did I say something that hurt? I'm sorry, I let my emotions pour into you."

Then, Amber faced Catrine's worried face, showing Catrine her weak, crying face as she said. "Please. Let me go, Catrine."

As if understanding it all, Catrine let go off her, allowing Amber to run away, leaving a trail of tears in her path.

This left Catrine, to just stand there, staring at the direction where Amber went, all alone, looking very sad and guilty as she said to herself. "I'm sorry, Amber. You must have had it tough. How insensitive of me."

Then, Rose, Miya, and Set was walking along the banks of the canal as they talked to themselves.

"Maybe we should split up, to find her quickly?"

"Or, I could just fly so high in the sky so no one will see me?"

Set then said in a calm tone. "No. Spliting up is a bad idea and flying up is also a bad idea."

As the two girls continued to be increasingly worried, it was all blown away as Amber reunited with them.

"Amber?! We finally found you! We were worried."

As Miya approached Amber, Rose then asked. "What happened, Amber? Why are you crying? Who hurt you?"

Amber then said, speaking with her throat feeling more dry than ever. "No one. No one hurt me, Rose. Let's just... go back."

Rose looking increasingly more angry, she asked. "Don't lie to me, Amber. You are way too easy to read. Where are they?!"

Before Rose could stomp off, Set grabbed her by the collar, saying. "Let's go back, like she said."

As Miya comforted Amber, Rose tried to set herself free from Set's grasp while saying. "Let go off me! I will hunt down who ever hurt Amber and make them pay!"

Then, Set calmly asked. "You are her friend, right? You should know her feelings better than anyone."

Set statement calmed Rose down as she replied in a low tone. "I don't think I can call her my friend... but let's go back, like she said."

And with that, the four of them went back. Only to be met with Lilly on the front door, who immediately after they entered, hugged Amber from the back, asking. "Is something wrong, Amber?"

To Lilly's surprise, Amber actually hugged back while whispering. "I had it so easy... I don't deserve any of this... I'm so lucky."

Instead of replying with words, Lilly just hugged Amber tighter as Amber, did the same to her.