14. The tale in which the tot of the under is eclipsed by the what-the-smog of the under?

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The tale in which the tot of the under is eclipsed by the what-the-smog of the under?

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> “Deep down under the soil… deep down under the very earth we stand on, live the Underdwellers. They rise when we fall, they dwell below, in the under. Accustomed to the dark, they roam unrestricted in the underbelly of the earth. Surfacing only on half moons, to catch a glimpse of the dimpled streams running through the forest. Shy craggy creatures, they freeze upon sight, taking on the form of a rock. When you turn away they slink into the shadows, watching you, waiting until a safe distance to scurry back down below.

>

> Their homes are a network of interlocking burrows, as might be expected, and they smell. Earthy and stale, smelling slightly of corpse, depending on where their homes are in relation to the nearest graveyard. A class system has emerged, those lucky enough to be part of the higher classes have, perhaps surprisingly by our standards, smellier homes.

>

> The creature they most closely resemble is a mole, with large clawed hands and minuscule eyes. Their backs hunch and crumple, a great curvature of the spine, and they are often under mistaken impressions.

>

> Now the scene is set, in burrows not dissimilar to our current abode… To the story— This particular day was not in-ordinary of itself. It was in fact a normal day. The underdwellers had risen; children had gone to school, adults to work, grandparents to sea. A child underdweller, a tot so to speak, however, was in a particularly mischievous mood.

>

> ~ T h e ~ l i t t l e ~ m i t e ~

>

> He had been tugging at his mother’s apron strings all morning. Not to mention, sitting on her feet. She as such, turned him out of the house, as one would with a pet - though not Yuki of course - and told him to play outside.

>

> Now, this child was in such a mischievous mood, he did not heed his mother’s restriction to limit his play area. He wandered out of his burrow, further and further, further than he had ever been before. The little tot was terribly lost. The burrows were expansive and complex and most seemed to lead to higher ground—

>

> Sorry, let me break for a moment to have a mouthful of this broth. Maybe some bread, if you’ll let me…

>

> Where was I? Ah yes, the little tot was terribly lost.

>

> The tot cried and cried and cried. He wailed and wailed, until his face was sore and his feet were wet. As is often the case with small children, he tired himself out before he drowned in a pool of his tears and, an exhausted wreck, he slept for three days.

>

> Meanwhile, the tot’s poor mother was beside herself with worry. She had called the townsfolk and they had formed a search party but to no avail. No one could find the poor mite.

>

> When he finally roused, he panicked for he did not recognise his surroundings; as one might expect. His stomach rumbled, causing his brow to furrow. He clambered up, and scavenged, hunting for food, any food. His fruitless search brought him ever closer to tantrum. He stomped his foot hard and looked up. He saw above him a crack of light and smelt a sweet smell. He followed his stomach, up and around, up and around, constantly heading upwards. As his head broke through the earth, he realised he had no way to get out. The earth around him was hard and obstructed by heavy rocks. What is more, he could not get back down. He was stuck. Once more he cried, dampening the earth around him until it was soft enough that he could, de-surface. The tot fell to his bum, and crawled some more until he came to a proper mode of exit. A tunnel hole.

>

> Once out, his small eyes widened, as much as physically possible, and he took in his surroundings. The full moon was prematurely bright and low in the sky, the water so enchanting in the dusky delight of the almost night. He staggered over, arms stretched out, and walked into the water. His mother never did find him.

>

> Some say that he walked to the centre of the lake and when the sun rose he, in a frightened stupor, froze and turned to rock. Some say that the lake seeps more into the shore every night, filling with his tears. Some say the tears of the lost island are absorbed into the soil, making its way to where the tot cannot. Some say he waits, for a time where he can find his way back home to his grieving mother…”

≋❈≋

“Kally, how am I supposed to be able to sleep now?”

“Well, you asked for a story.” Kally laughed as Katoia shivered in fright.

“Yeah, but I didn’t ask for a spooky one.”

“It’s a campfire story, Kat. That’s how they are!”

Katoia, unimpressed, said no more. Kally, fox-like, observed Ahkaiyu’s reaction. For the most part, he was unmoved. Unsurprising, classic Ahkaiyu.

She smiled as she noticed him stroking Yuki. That had been a good idea at least. She felt like she could feel a bit more warmth from him, Yuki’s influence or - she flattered herself - engagement with her story. One thing she was proud of was her story-telling, constantly coming up with stories since childhood and regaling Katoia alone.

She frowned. What was he doing now? A pensive mood seemed to have overtaken him, a cloud to his lower face, and he twisted a ring on his finger. She had never noticed it before. It was ancient. So old it could be a relic, she thought to herself. She lowered her eyes to the ground, rubbing her arm, and hoped he had not noticed her.

Kally closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Now seemed like a good time to meditate. Not that she had ever been any good at it but it seemed like if any time was good for it, it would be now. She wished so badly to clear her head of the emotions and thoughts that had been whirring around the past two weeks, ever since Betsy’s death. She smiled sadly, Betsy, it had all started with grief really. If she had not deviated from the routine of the bar that night, and seen the figure in the sky at Betsy’s funeral - she still was not sure if that was a figment of her grief - would any of this have come to pass? So many emotions, was it cliche to call it a roller-coaster? Smog be with us, she didn’t care.

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And breathe… In, and out. Gently in, and… out. And gently… in… and … out. She repeated this a few times, focusing on her breathing.

A calm trickled through her. She was certain she would sleep well tonight, and hopefully she hadn’t scared Katoia too much. She looked to her foot. She needn’t have worried. Katoia was sound asleep already.

Kally laughed. “So much for no sleep.” She rolled her eyes at Ahkaiyu.

He shrugged and continued petting Yuki.

Kally, heartened by this, cleared her throat and asked whether he had recovered fully from the forest. She touched lightly around the subject of Naevii, judging what she should say. She knew she shouldn’t be like this, so tentative and treating him like a petal she did not want to crush. With others, sure, she did not want to upset them, but she was not like this; hyper-aware of his every move. She couldn’t even say when it had started, definitely not during the argument in the forest. She realised she had misunderstood him then. She was tired that day, and her emotions were too high at that point. These past few days she had felt slightly more in control of them, at least. Besides, with Naevii, it was her fault after all.

“Ah, yes Naevii. It’s a shame he was like that in the end.”

“I’m sorry,” a small voice wavered out of Kally.

Kally saw a ripple in his mask, right where his brow would be. “What for?”

“Well, I made us follow him…” she continued quietly, “…and it turned out, well, you know how it turned out.” Her paced quickened. “I’m sorry. It was because of me.”

His pause gave Kally instant regret.

“Well, if we are on the subject of apologies. I am the one who owes you.”

Kally started. “Uh, sorry… what?”

“I should not have been so far ahead in the dunes. I neglected my duty and you paid the price.” He paused solemnly. “I even doused you in water. If one of us needs to apologise it should be me.”

He bowed his head to her.

“Tha— that’s alright. Don’t worry about it, these things happen. Hey, at least I dried out quick from the heat of the sun, right?”

This conversation had not gone how Kally had envisioned.

“Yes,” he replied and turned away from her. “It has been a bit of an adjustment lately. I will do better tomorrow.” He looked again at his ring. “I’m not used to travelling in a group, it has been so long—”

Kally, though shocked at the sudden volunteering of information, did not show it. Neither did she push him any further on it. She just nodded and suggested they get some sleep. A welcome suggestion all round. The day had tired them both and they needed to leave early the next day. Kally slept soundly that night; she was less on edge, she felt like they understood each other better now. Who knows, maybe they would even end up friends.

They rose early the next morning as planned, ate a few snacks to last until the afternoon and made to set off pretty soon after the first holler of dawn.

One thing they had overlooked was Yuki.

Yesterday, neither Kally nor Kai had thought about what they would do with their temporary party member once back on the journey. A small oversight, some might say.

Surely it would not be so bad, Kally had thought. It was a wild tokki, after all. It would just need releasing. They tried shooing. Yuki just looked up with those sweet eyes and did not budge. They picked her up and put her down somewhere. She would just bleat and bound up to wherever Ahkaiyu walked off to. They had run out of cruelty-free options.

Ahkaiyu scooped her up. “Fine.” He placed her in the sleeve under his cloak and she happily nestled there for the remainder of the journey, making not so much as a bleat. Perhaps, she did not want to draw more attention to herself, lest they would try to leave her again.

≋❈≋

They walked the dunes with more drive this time. Their routine from yesterday was all oiled and ready to go. Masked-up and nose clogged, they walked, almost in tandem this time.

“Stay right behind me.” Ahkaiyu had said, and sure enough, he minded his words from the night before. He kept looking back, judging the distance between them and consistently checking for pops with their hand signal. No pop had popped that did not swiftly follow with a lean back and a quick flick under Kally’s nose. She hardly had time to feel the air hit her nostrils. She laughed. This might be too efficient. Still, she couldn’t complain. Her mood was light from last night’s conversation. Their argument in the forest felt like it was years ago and they, the three of them, were forming a sort of camaraderie.

Plus, she was secretly glad Yuki had refused to leave.

A tremble underfoot stopped Kally in her tracks. She called out to Ahkaiyu who, nimble on his feet as ever, arrived at her side in an instant.

“Why is the ground always threatening us?” Kally bemoaned.

The golden-red sand shifted around them. Ahkaiyu grabbed Kally’s arm; they were not going to be separated this time. Her foot slipped and they both fell to their knees. Kally dragged her tongue across the roof of her mouth to her teeth. The taste of sand peppered her taste buds, the texture sharp and grating.

She coughed. A gust of wind blew more sand at her. She wiped her face, rubbing to remove as much as possible. She could add sand to the list of things she never wanted to see again. At this rate, she would refuse to leave the house by the end of this journey.

Still on her knees, she dragged herself up, clinging to Ahkaiyu’s arm to steady herself.

A wind whistled in her ear and a strange calm settled in the air. This was not good. Kally shuddered. She was sure something was wrong, that something was about to happen. The creatures had quietened, that was always a bad sign.

She felt it before she saw it. Chunks of sand moved under her feet, and a strange vibration from the ground shook her.

The dune broke, like a tsunami crashing down. Riding the highest wave, without a board, Ahkaiyu and Kally slipped and shifted in a dusty haze.

They would, most likely, have fallen to their deaths if not for the structure that was disrupting the dune itself.

A monstrously tall - and wide - pyramid formed. Not so much an underdweller but more of an underdwelling.

The pyramid blocked their way. Its open mouth - their only way forward.