villagers return
After the two survivors were taken care of, Jason along with a group of wolves traveled to the next villages to see if there were any more survivors.
Sadly all that Jason came across was the crushed ruins of the villages. Even with the new upgraded map, there was no life in the other villages. Jason had luckily spotted the two survivors with the map.
2 pale grey dots were the only thing that signified their existence and it was something Jason almost glossed over. Well he thought at first it was one grey dot, but the surprise of seeing another survivor made him notice that it was actually 2 grey dots that were stacked on each other.
Jason walked through the last village one more time, the wolves were next to him sniffing every nook and cranny for any signs of life.
After a few minutes of just wandering around staring at the map. Jason had to stop. He shook his head and called for the wolves. They quickly gathered around Jason as he solemnly lead them back to the first village where the rest of the group was waiting.
Jason arrived to see the two survivors huddling together, mother and child. The mother seemed to be staring off into the void. Almost emotionless while the young child cried in a loud voice.
Charlie stood on the side, with a helpless expression on his face, he could heal physical wounds but not the mental ones. In fact, the two people who seemed to be helping the survivors the most were Mark and Ethan.
Ethan covered the shaking village lady with a warm blanket while passing her his personal pouch of water. Mark, on the other hand, wrapped the child in a bear hug and spoke softly like a father comforting his child.
Perhaps they were able to help so much since they had gone through similar experiences.
Two people around Jason's age comforted the two survivors like adults. They were still teenagers in Jason's definition, but they had a sense of maturity at that moment which unmistakably came from years of pain, and loss.
The rest of the group quietly watched as the twins comforted the survivors. After a bit of time, Mark stood up and said with a friendly grin
"Alright, we'll take you to the city don't worry, we will protect you"
The kid looked at Mark, and his eyes shined with a light that was once lost. Mark looked like a hero in the kid's eyes at that moment. A brave strong hero, one that would protect and guide the kid.
The image of Mark stretching out his hand, overlapped with another person's figure. It was the strong man who always laughed and smilled when the child ran up to him. That strong man would always pick the child up by the arms and toss him in the air while giving a greeting kiss to the kid's mother.
That strong man seemed to look more and more like the smiling person in front of him. And the teenager in front of him seemed to look more and more like the strong man.
The boy weakly lifted his hand and met the teenager's outstretched hand the outstretched hand pulled the boy up from the ground. Mark smilled, his blond hair swaying in the wind and a slightly joyfully yet remorseful expression on his face.
Mark ruffled the kid's hair and said gently
"come on kid, lets head to your new home"
Ethan on the other hand said to the mother in a low voice
"I don't know your circumstances, but I do know that you survived, your child is waiting for you, don't let your child grow up without his mother. It's a terrible thing for a child. Live, live for those you have lost. Live for those you might meet in the future"
The mother seemed to wake up from her pale emotionless state at the mention of her child, she looked around her and saw the ruins of the village, but like the child, a scene seemed to overlap in her mind.
In front of her where their house had formerly stood, she could see it, the house still standing and in front of it was 2 people. The strong man, the strong man that had taken her heart and had promised to live their lives together. And the daughter perched up happily on his arms waving at the mother.
The mother reached her hands out that the two figures. But as she did, they started to melt away like ice under the sun.
The brown-haired teenager's words echoed in her head as she almost settled back into despondency.
Live for those you have lost, was it?
The mother's gaze turned to the child, the last of her blood in this world. None of their relatives or family had survived, it was just the two of them now.
But as she looked at the child bracing herself to see him also in a state like hers. She instead saw him with something in his eyes. A glimmer of hope that was directed toward the blond-haired boy.
The mother witnessed all of that and another line echoed in her head.
Live for those you might meet in the future
The future.
Her husband and daughter wouldn't want her to stay despondent right? no, she was alive, the last of her blood was standing there with regained hope, in a hopeless situation.
The mother's eyes seemed to open up and light seemed to flood back into her eyes. She stood back up and looked back at the brown-haired boy. The brown-haired boy seemed to be grinning and he motioned to the child.
The mother understood and walked over to the child and caught him up in a hug. She whispered to the child tenderly.
"We survived"
Jason witnessed everything. He wasn't sure what he witnessed but it was definitely something. Jason quickly asked Boops what they were looking at and Boops quietly replied
"look and listen, this is 2 twins, two boys, who are reviving the hope that was once lost."
Jason took in the entire scene. He memorized everything. He was 15 but he already knew that this would be an important lesson. He didn't really know how Mark and Ethan did it. Perhaps there was a formula for it, or it was just sheer kindness.
Whatever it was. Deep inside Jason, something seemed to resonate with the mother and child.
It was a bit ironic they were NPCs, they might not even be classified as alive. But it gave something, some emotion Jason hadn't felt in years.
The two survivors seemed to wrap up. Charlie asked some questions and soon found out more information. The mother's name was Natalie and the child's name was Adaran. The altered goblins made a sudden attack on them a few weeks ago, about 3 and a half to be exact.
The reason why the villages had suddenly lost communication was because of the large scale increase in the woods. The village chiefs even when guarded by numerous strong men from the villagers never returned.
The two survivors were able to barely survive thanks to the roof of their house and beams of the walls collapsing in such a way that created a supporting beam.
They had lived trapped in that small space for almost a month luckily food was nearby and the father had just returned from hunting so he had a large satchel of water.
But they only had so much. The daughter passed away and the father sacrificed his portions for the last remain parts of his family.
The father died while speaking of his love for the two of them.
Charlie walked up to where the father's body was and bowed his head. It was respect to a fellow warrior.
And the team members all said quietly as they looked at the village remains
"may Psykhe guide your souls"
And so, they set off, with a new addition of two people. They went back into the forest, the creepy dark forest which Jason hated. But he wasn't scared of it anymore. The biggest threat in it the altered goblin commander had been slain (pretty easily) and the remains of the altered goblins seemed to be scattered throughout the forest.
The group enjoyed their travels as well as one could. Forcing Jason to make the food which he gladly accepted and telling stories. Mark and Ethan especially loved to talk about the numerous adventures they had as adventures Adaran always was there to listen to them talk about exploring a new ruin or running away from some pissed off monster while the mother Natalie watched over her son with a soft smile on her face as the light of the campfire danced over the merry surroundings.
This was peace, moments like when the children were gazing at the two former adventures with shining eyes, this was what they lived for. This was hope.