Chapter 494: A Collision Course of Emotions

’Alright, now that the fighting is over, time to do clean up...again. Well, at least this time it’s with family instead of just me and the kaijin. Speaking of...’

Soon after the return of his grandfather, father and uncles, Zhen Liu went about his usual routine of coordinating his kaijin to help with clean up and looting.

Granted, it was a heavier lean on the former than the latter.

But as Zhen Liu ran a mental checklist on which kaijin could help with what for the time being, he realized didn’t have many kaijin on hand to help out.

’Okay so, Hurricroak’s checking on Tiny, Razorstella is still inside Uncle Zhen Ye for the time being, Spring Brawler is still riversick-’

[Actually, I think I’m better now, ringmaster. The size of the makeshift glacier helps.]

’Ah! Cool. That still leaves Frosttusk, who is sorta chilling and Nepherage is...huh?’

When Zhen Liu tried to account for Nepherage, remembering that she was last seen standing by Frosttusk’s side, he soon realized that she wasn’t there.

In fact, she wasn’t anywhere near the river, the rafts or the frozen otters.

As far as Zhen Liu could physically see, she was straight up gone.

’The hell she run off to? She didn’t get injured too, right?’ Zhen Liu thought for a moment before realizing something.

’Wait...can I summon the zakos to help with this stuff? Nah, that’d be harder to explain to people than the kaijin...I think. Hold up, why don’t I just use my connection with her to check how she is and where-’

[Mi...lord...?]

’Huh? What’s up Frosttusk?’

Before Zhen Liu could check on Nepherage’s status, he was interrupted by Frosttusk, who had somehow managed to sneak up on him without him noticing. A rather impressive feat for a kaijin who was at least sixish feet tall and weighed a literal ton.

[I...think...your...consorts...kidnapped....someone...]

’I...why does everyone I seem to be close with have a habit of kidnapping people? I feel like irony dictates I end up kidnapping someone next...wait, no I already did? Anyways where they at?’

[Over...there...]

’Huh...at least it’s out of sight...can you help with breaking apart the ice while I got check on them?’

[Of...course...]

’Thank you, Frosttusk.’

As Zhen Liu left the mammoth kaijin to his own devices, while handling an issue of his own, Frosttusk didn’t immediately go to help the Zhen Clan or the Skyscales Company in breaking apart the ice.

Instead, he went off into the same direction that Hurricroak left from earlier, and Nepherage had went a little after her.

[You...two...better...not...do...anything...drastic...]

_____________________________________________

Meanwhile, in forested wetlands with absolutely unnecessary dramatic shading...

"Talk? Talk about what?," Hurricroak asked with a somewhat defiant tone. The frog-like kaijin had an idea as to why Nepeherage was currently crimping on her style, she really hoped it wasn’t about what she thought it was about.

"Your attitude and behavior as of late," Nepherage answered in a strict tone.

"Of course..."

Unfortunately for Hurricroak, it was about what she thought it was about.

"I’ve been holding my tongue this whole time in respect of our lord, who doesn’t seem to want to reprimand you for some reason," Nepherage continued, growling as the word, "reason", left her mouth, "but today was the straw that broke the camel’s back, no, shattered would be a more apt description."

"Oh please...," Hurricroak replied while rolling her eyes.

Hurricroak was rather tempted to just continue walking/flying and ignoring the sanctimonious rock woman, but she had a feeling that if she did, they would either go to blows or she’d still yell her ear off.

Hurricroak was confident she could take Nepherage in a fight, but she didn’t want to deal with the headache of someone lecturing her ears(?) off.

Wait, did she even have ears?

"Can we save this for later?," Hurricroak asked, "someone needs to go check on Tiny to make sure she handled that Geyser Hippo by now and-"

"Tiny can wait," Nepherage denied Hurricroak, "I already checked on her and she has handled the issue with the Geyser Hippo already. See?"

Nepherage gestured with her head off into the distance, directing Hurricroak’s attention towards what appeared to be a pair of hippos plodding back to where the caravan fleet was. Wit her sharpened senses, Hurricroak could see that Tiny had thoroughly beaten upon the Geyser Hippo and was now dragging his ass back for some unclear reason. Neither Nepherage nor Hurricroak would know until they returned.

"Huh...okay, cool," Hurricroak commented while turning to head back to the fleet, "Looks like we can just-"

"I’m still not done."

"Godsdammit. Fine."

Like a flippant teenager, Hurricroak turned towards Nepherage with her arms crossed and a sour expression on her face.

"You were saying?"

Perhaps goaded by Hurricroak’s behavior, Nepherage took a deep breath before shewalked up to Hurricroak and stared straight into her eyes, giving off an equally stern look to match Hurricroak’s sour one.

"I can normally forgive the flippant attitude, the carefreeness, the recklessness and your, to paraphrase, ’proactive actions’, but you have a crossed a line today."

"Oh yeah? And what’s that?"

Nepherage took another breath, calming her literal burning heart before she did something drastic. If she wanted to get her point across, she needed to be calm and collected...at least that’s what all of the books said she had to do.

"Your disobedience today injured not only yourself, but our lord as well. If it hadn’t been for Lady Jin Fang learning healing arts, who knows what could’ve happened today."

"That’s it? That’s what you’re made about?," Hurricroak asked in disbelief.

"Well lesson learned, ’big sister’", Hurricroak said as she began to walk away, "next time I won’t pick a fight with a giant, flying dragon otter."

"That’s not the point and you know it," Nepherage called out, causing the frog kaijin to pause.

"Our lord, literally feels most of the things we feel. We get happy, he feels that. We get sad, he feels that. If we get injured in the slightest, his body literally injures itself to match us, or did you not notice how his arms literally started smoking and burning when you decided to try and touch a form of energy that contradicts our very existence?," Nepherage said in frustration, "what in the infinite hells do you think would happen if one of us died?!"

Surprisingly, Hurricroak was silent at Nepherage’s tirade...but if one her to look at her hands, they would notice her knuckles turning bright blue with how hard she was gripping her hands out.

Whether this was out of frustration or rage, was unknown.

"The next time you try and risk your life, remember that someone else might die if you do. Now, we’re done," Nepherage finished saying as she decided to walk back to the river, walking pass Hurricroak in the process.

Nepherage had only managed to take a couple of steps forward before an unusual sound caused her to stop.

That sound being?

Hurricroak’s laughter.

Granted, it wasn’t her normal, jovial sounding laugh. This time it sounded...broken.

Sad.

Hurt.

"Hehehehe...are you serious?," Hurricroak asked in a "laughing" voice that sounded a bit more like a cry, "are you seriously lecturing me, on getting myself killed? On someone possibly dying, because of my recklessness?"

"..."

Nepherage turned towards Hurricroak once more, her eyes initially steely, but they immediately softened once she saw that Hurricroak had tears streaming down her face while laughing.

Clearly something was wrong, but Nepherage couldn’t connect to Hurricroak in the same manner as their lord could. They had to use him as a hub, and right now...this wasn’t something that he should be feeling.

"Hurricroak-"

"DON’T YOU LECTURE ME ON DYING!," Hurricroak shouted before Nepherage could say a word, sadness and rage combining into one complicated emotion on her face, "DON’T YOU EVEN DARE TO LECTURE ME ON GETTING SOMEONE ELSE KILLED FOR MY ACTIONS! I already died once saving someone who I will never be able to see again, and I know damn certain I won’t make that same mistake twice!"

"..."

Nepherage was taken aback by Hurricroak’s outburst, surprised at her passion, but there was another emotion that soon took hold of Nepherage as she processed Hurricroak’s words.

Confusion.

"...who did you die for?"

As soon as Hurricroak heard that question, her expression immediately went from rage and sadness to shock and panic.

Hurricroak took several step backwards, acting as if she said something that she shouldn’t have, shared a secret with someone who definitely shouldn’t have heard it in the first place.

In this moment, Hurricroak could only say one thing.

"...I’ve said too much."

And with those words, Hurricroak suddenly sprouted her hornet wings and immediately flew off into the distance, away from Nepherage and even further away from the floating caravan.

Hurricroak didn’t have a destination in mind...she just knew she needed space.

[Why the fuck did I tell her?!]