A Fallen HomeKin

PART XXV

Ruth. Rooooth. Ruth. Fralith cocked his head, watching her lips move exadruatively. RuthMom. That was an interesting name. It had two parts like HorseNeigh and CowMoo, unlike Tim and Math-hew. Maybe boys have one part names and girls have two part names.

That made sen— wait. Did that mean this language had gendered nouns and things? Rivierian worked that way and it was a pain to learn, though it sounded really nice. Were HorseNeigh and CowMoo girl things? But they looked like animals. So strange.

"What's your name?" RuthMom pointed at him — or more accurately, his chest.

Fralith looked down at his chest. What about it? Did she...like his shawl? He put a hand over his shawl, hunching back a little. It was...his shawl. She couldn't have it.

RuthMom pulled her hand back, looking at him expectantly but still...nicely.

He peeked up at her, chewing his lip. You can't have my shawl. She was new, and, while he didn't think she was dangerous or bad, he didn't have any proof otherwise. She was the girl's mother, but...mothers could be bad.

"Where do you think you're going?" A familiar voice hissed. A warm, meaty hand strangled his arm while pale rose eyes bore into him with the force of a spear.

No. No. The woman couldn't be like that. She could be different. She could be better. She...had to be. Fralith swallowed and shoved the unbidden memory aside, looking away. Shadows skidded under his skin and squirming in his chest. She was...still looking at him, like that other woman.

More shadows shivered in his body and he slid off the chair, scurrying over to Tim and pressing himself into his friend's side. He didn't like being looked at. He...

Tim looked at him, patting his head. "Hey buddy. Is Mrs. Ruth scary?"

"Beep." Fralith closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Tim's arm that he was leaning on. The shadows were so heavy. They tugged him towards the ground, willing him to curl up and just...leave everything — the entire world — to Tim and BlueShirt.

If only his bed was near. Or his room. Or his blanket. Or his anything. But no, they weren't here. Instead, he was in a new place with new people eating new — but yummy — food, and learning new words. And that was after getting eaten by a MetalEater. Snowmelt cascaded down his spine and he shivered.

It was all too new. Too scary.

"Aww, don't worry, she's Tim approved. But...are you done for the day? We can finish the introductions and show you around later. Would you like that, Brave Buddy? Take a good 'ol nap?"

Whatever Tim was saying sounded...nice. Or, his tone sounded nice. Very few of the words made sense. Fralith nodded, head sloshing with all the newness of today. I want bed. No more new.

"Ah, okay," Tim breathed, rubbing his shoulder and arm gently, giving them a few pats before he extricated his arm from Fralith's grasp. "Where's his room?"

He stepped back a bit, opening his eyes and looking up at Tim as he stood. As soon as Tim was standing, he latched onto Tim's hand. Tim wasn't going anywhere without him. Unless that was a MetalEater. Or a MetalBox. Or somewhere else scary and able to eat people. There were a lot of things that ate people. He shivered and looked at his feet, chewing on his lip.

"Right. It's upstairs. I'll show you," BlueShirt's voice answered along with a chair scraping as it was pushed back.

"Should I come too? Will it overload him too much?" RuthMom.

There was a little silence as the other two thought. Gazes prickled the top of his head and back, and he bared his teeth. Shadows shuddered and squirmed into places they shouldn't go. Stop looking at me.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ruth, but I think so. He's been through a lot today and he's obviously done with new things." Tim again.

"That's alright, Tim. I understand; poor boy."

"When we're finished, we'll come down and we can talk about some ways to get him settled."

Were they never going to stop talking? Words, words, mysterious words. Fralith growled, tugging on Tim's hand and letting out a whimper. No more words. He wanted to be away with Tim and BlueShirt. Away from all the new things. All the scary things. Away from all of that so he could sleep and sleep and sleep until...things were better.

Tim looked down at him, squeezing his hand. "Alright, we're going, Brave Buddy." He turned, nodding at RuthMom and turned for the stairs, BlueShirt walking ahead of them.

The stairs were soft from the moss and dark. There weren't many, and they soon came to an opening that led to a hall. They turned left, going through the door on the left side of the hall. Inside the room were things, but he didn't stop to identify them. There was a bed — a little different from his, but still a bed — and that's all that mattered.

Fralith tugged Tim over and crawled onto its surface, flopping face first on the soft, dark blue blanket.

Tim sat down beside him, the bed sinking as he did. A few moments later, it sank even further as BlueShirt took a seat.

Bed. Nice, soft bed. Sighing, he gathered his strength and wormed over to Tim, putting his head in his lap and curling up, feet touching BlueShirt. There. Now he was safe. The shadows stilled and whooshed out of him as he breathed them out. It was okay. He could sleep now.

Closing his eyes, he did exactly that.