Paying Respects

"Ryne! We're back!" said Nini, who was running with Fonmi towards Ryne. He had been resting for a while on the bench where he started.

"I've done my share of the work, Ryne!" called Prauza, who was also running towards Ryne.

Ryne couldn't call out to them because he was in his human form, and, admittedly, he was a little tired from getting the bodies he could.

Upon getting close enough, Nini noticed Ryne's fatigue and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Uh, yes…" answered Ryne. "It's just that I didn't expect to get into anything this exhausting."

"Oh, your paws…" said Prauza, who had also come close enough. "They have so much dirt on them."

"They're… called hands," said Ryne, a little amused with what the tomcat had called his limbs. "This is because I've found a few of them."

"A few of what?"

"The bodies."

"Oh dear…" said Nini. "… so they've been hidden here?"

"Yes. A few of them, at least," said Ryne. "They've been buried somewhat deep, so I was only able to get to these few. I also have reason to believe that not all of them are here."

"Why is that?"

"All of these are not from here. They were taken from somewhere else and then buried here. Following this, if anyone was taken from here, they would likely be buried somewhere else," explained Ryne. "But it's weird… It's either this person isn't ordinary, or there is more than one of them."

"How do you say that?" It was Prauza who asked.

"These bodies were buried individually. Also, I worked on digging these up with my bare hands, and as a human, it still took me a while to get to every single one. With tools, it may be a little faster, but if it's true that there are many more victims, then I don't think they'd have the time to do it all in one night if they were alone and simply human."

It was then that all of them, save Fonmi, realized that they're up against a force to be reckoned with. Hints of worry formed on their faces, but Nini didn't want it to prevail for longer than it should.

"By the way, we were able to find the colony that lives here. They're hiding underground," said Nini. "Some of them were already taken by the human in the cloak, but apparently, they found passages there from long ago that we can all use to keep each other safe and updated. If anything, I have already asked them to help us let the others know."

The news of hope brought some shine to their eyes and prompted Prauza to say his piece as well.

"I've talked to a few of my fellow wanderers here, and I've persuaded them to help as well," he said to the others. "I haven't given them any specific task, other than to patrol, but now I think we can ask them to become the lookouts for the tunnels. If you want, I can spread the word now."

"Hm, that sounds like a good idea," said Ryne upon consideration. "We would need all the help we can get."

"Excellent! I'll get to it now."

While Prauza went back to the independents to give them a proposal for a plan, Ryne and Nini talked more about the situation and the cloaked human.

"Thank you for giving us something to be hopeful about," said Ryne.

"It's nothing…"

"Still, I doubt we'd perk up if you hadn't spoken up."

If Nini could blush, she would, but then her expression turned serious. "What you've said about the mysterious human, though… I believe we may be dealing with your former speculation."

"That they're not ordinary?"

"Yes," affirmed Nini. "I've heard from Hienea's group that whoever it was seemed to have a keen sense of smell, and that's how they were found."

"That is rather unusual…" noted Ryne. "As far as I know, humans aren't that good with any sort of sense. Could it be that we're dealing with someone who's not human at all?"

"At this point, it's possible," Nini said with a sigh. "I mean, there's you. It's not impossible that there's someone like you out there."

"Maybe so…"

Ryne's thoughts went back to that moment in his childhood when he escaped from that fire. Could it be a punishment for what he's done before? No, it can't possibly be…

"Also, what are you planning to do with those bodies that you've found?"

"I…" It was then that Ryne realized he didn't exactly have a plan for those. "I didn't think of that, to be honest, but I promised them that they'll be returned to their homes."

"Maybe we could ask the people here to hide them for us for now?"

"Hm… I could ask them to take the stray ones to their homes, instead. But for the pets… they might go rotten if we don't get back to them on time," said Ryne. "I would have to go and get some boxes for them, at least."

"In that case, I'll ask some of them to take the strays."

"Please. Thank you."

Nini went off again to get some of the cats from Hienea's group to help, leaving Fonmi in Ryne's care. Fonmi went closer to the deceased to look at them.

"They're asleep too, huh?" asked Fonmi.

"I guess you could say that," answered Ryne. He thought maybe Nini had explained it to him that way. He didn't want to be the one to burst the child's bubble, so he simply went with it.

"Good night. I hope you have a good dream," the child said to the bodies as he went near each of them.

It was something like tucking children into their beds.

As Ryne watched Fonmi say good night to the corpses, he thought about how the other cats would think about seeing their family members die so early. It was normal for cats to live out all of their lives in full, not getting them cut off by some mysterious person with malicious intent.

A while later, Prauza returned.

"Hm, where is Nini?"

"She went to get some of the park's cats to help take the strays from this group of bodies."

"I see."

Prauza went closer to the bodies to pay respects, even in spirit. For a while, he thought that there was a hint of dog scent on the corpses, but he then thought he may be smelling things. He didn't say anything about it yet, at least not while he was unsure.

Nini soon arrived with some others.

"Hello. We're here to help," said one of them. "You must be the one they call Ryne."

"Yes," answered Ryne, still in his human form.

"S-So it's true… You can change into a human body…" said another one.

Ryne was a little embarrassed at the fact, but that's what it was. "Y-Yes… Sorry for making you feel rather… small."

"I-It's all right," the cat said. "A-Are those the corpses?"

"Yes."

"Goodness… I can only imagine what their families are going to think about this. So, where to?"

Ryne told them the rough location of where their homes were, as well as any last words they wanted to utter. Some were scared, while some were amazed at Ryne's ability, but no one denied that it was useful for helping the living find peace.

As for the pets, Ryne bought shoe boxes to put them in and wrote notes with their messages before leaving them near their homes. He hoped that the humans won't take it badly, as it had already looked suspicious, but all he could do now is wish for the best and help the other cats do what they can.

He soon went off with Nini, Fonmi, and Prauza to patrol a few other areas for the day and try to do the same.