Chp.24: Talking between sisters

Haku, Darbi and Kotaru turned to where the voice had come from. On top of a nearby hill, Tikka and Teramon had appeared, both wide-eyed and gaping. "Sisters!" Darbi exclaimed as soon as he saw them, running towards them. Kotaru and Haku followed him. Even though they were tired from fighting the giant armored lizard, they hurriedly reached the top of the hill. "How are you?"

"We… we're fine" Tikka murmured, pointing to the dead animal: "Did you really kill that?"

"We'll explain later" Haku said with a smile. "It's good to see you again, sisters"

They'd only been apart for a week, but he'd missed them a lot. Waking up without seeing them near him made him feel like a part of him was missing. After all, they had spent their entire life together, and even if he hadn't exactly been the most affectionate or the most present of the brothers, he had developed a strong bond towards them.

However, Tikka and Teramon didn't reciprocate his happiness. Teramon tried to smile, but Tikka didn't even pretend to be happy to see him again. An awkward silence fell between the five dragons.

The smile on Haku's face faded. He knew the reason his sisters were so cold was himself. "Well... maybe I'll let you four talk to yourself. That carcass might have something useful on it" he said, albeit reluctantly.

"Yeah, good idea brother" Darbi said without warning. "I come with you. Let the girls talk". And before Haku could protest he ran towards the dead lizard. All Haku could do was roll his eyes and crack a half smile and follow him.

Kotaru watched his two brothers return from the giant lizard's corpse, then gave his sisters a scolding look: "You could have at least said hello"

Teramon looked a little guilty, but Tikka shook her head. "He was the one who broke our bond. He can't expect us to mend it"

"No, but you could at least be nice" Kotaru said.

"Sister, we know how much you love him. We love him too. But we can't forget that he stripped half of Rhaegal's face" Tikka replied. Her tone was harsh, but her body visibly trembled as she said that words.

Kotaru sighed. "I know what he did, I saw it too. But he's still our brother, and I'm sure he'll get better after what happened. Trust me, you didn't see him after you left"

"Why? What did he do?" Teramon asked with some apprehension in her voice. Even Tikka, despite her feigned indifference, was clearly listening.

Kotaru didn't quite know how to describe it. "He had... a moment of crisis"

"Crisis?" Teramon didn't seem to settle for so little. "What kind of crisis?"

"Do you really want to know?" Kotaru suddenly asked.

"Of course I do!" Teramon exclaimed, then looked at Tikka, who was now only pretending to look away. "We both want it!"

Kotaru walked over and looked into her eyes. "Then go and ask our brother. I'm sure he will be happy to answer you"

Teramon fell silent at that answer, clearly not expecting her sister to be so bold. Tikka also twitched slightly the spines on her back in clear sign of dissent. "That was low" she said.

"If you don't want to ask him, then don't. I won't force you to talk to him. But don't expect me to tell his rehearsed matters for him" Kotaru replied. "So, why did you come back? Given your reaction, I doubt it's to stay with us"

Tikka, clearly pleased with the change of subject, pointed to the giant dead lizard. "We suspected you were nearby, and wanted to warn you that you might run into that great basilisk" she said. "We ran into it last night. It almost got into our shelter during the storm". A thought seemed to suddenly flash through her mind: "By the way, how did it find you? We know it has a very good sense of smell, but even though it could smell us, it didn't attack us since we were using the invisibility runes"

"Um..." Kotaru blushed slightly. She didn't have the courage to admit that the beast had found them because of her, because she had fallen asleep while taking a bath. If she had been careful and had used the rune of invisibility, that lizard most likely wouldn't have recognized her as prey. Evidently that animal didn't know the smell of dragons, and consequently when it had smelled their siblings it hadn't understood that they were living creatures since it couldn't see them, but after it had seen her it had understood that very well, all because she had been too unwise. "It's a long story, forget it"

"Why are you blushing?" Teramon asked with a searching look.

"I'm just a little tired!" Kotaru snapped.

Tikka and Teramon smiled in agreement. They knew their sister, and they were able to recognize when she was embarrassed. "Were you the one who got caught by any chance?" Tikka asked her with a grin.

"I said it's not worth talking about it now!" Kotaru exclaimed with the scales on her face redder than a ripe tomato. "Can we think about the serious stuff, please? Did you say that beast is called great basilisk?"

Tikka and Teramon cackled, making Kotaru blush even more, but they were kind enough to stop teasing her. "Yes, that's a great basilisk. It's one of the animals that was on the bounty list we stole from the adventurers, remember?"

"Yes. How do you know what is that thing?" Kotaru asked curiously.

"We carried out Sisna's plan" Tikka replied.

"Sisna's plan? You mean the one where you captured an adventurer and interrogated him?"

"Yes. We voted and decided to execute it"

"How did you not get noticed?"

"We used a different interrogation method than Haku's. Here's what we did..."

Tikka and Teramon quickly recounted how they had obtained their information: how they had captured Nogg, how they had tricked him, how he had explained to him what the various animals were, and how they had finally killed him and disposed of the body. They also described all the various species of beasts that populated the area, from the jackalopes to the royal basilisks, up to the hydra. "... and that's essentially the story. There are a few other details, but I don't think they have much value" they finally concluded.

Kotaru was quite amazed. She knew her siblings were resourceful, but she didn't think they'd be capable of that much. "I admit that you have done an extraordinary job. How did you come up with the idea of ​​deceiving the human?"

"Sisna remembered what Darbi had once told her about when Haku tricked the human he then stole that diary from" Teramon replied. "If Haku hadn't been so stubborn, Sisna probably would have told him"

That was clearly a dig. Kotaru was tempted to say something, but she decided to ignore it. "In any case, you did well. What did you do next?"

"We continued our journey, of course, taking all necessary precautions" Tikka replied. "We have supported each other, and together we have overcome every obstacle. We put our knowledge and our minds together and with them we manage to make efficient plans. It is easy now that we can all say what we really think"

Another obvious dig. Kotaru sighed, but again she said nothing.

"And you? What did you do?" Teramon asked. "In fact, by the way, why are you here? Tikka and I came to check to be sure, but most of us thought you were going to change your ways"

"No, we're continuing to go north" Kotaru replied. "Haku thinks about changing his ways once he reaches the desert. He wants to be sure you get to your destination"

Tikka snorted. "So he still doesn't trust us" he grumbled. "He still believes we can't get by without him"

"That's not what I said, and you know it" Kotaru said. "Listen, stop now. You don't need to keep repeating how much better you are without Haku"

"Why not? Maybe this way we'll convince you to come with us" Tikka said. "We miss you, Kotaru. And Darbi too. And don't get me wrong, we miss Haku too. We all wish he'd come back... even Rhaegal"

"Even him?" Kotaru asked in surprise.

"What did you expect? He's still our brother. Even after what he did, we still love him. Even if nobody talks about him, we miss him" Tikka replied. "But despite that, we can't let him back into the family anymore. None of us would sleep peacefully with him around, not after what he did. That's why I'd like at least you and Darbi to come back. Even if the family is no longer complete, at least it will be a little less incomplete"

"If he really loves us, and he really realized his mistakes as you say, he would want it. You know it's like that" Teramon gave her a hand. "The old Haku, the brother who thought of us before his position, if faced with this choice would undoubtedly have told you to come with us. Am I wrong?"

Kotaru knew it was true. Haku would surely tell her and Darbi to go with their siblings, and she was sure that's exactly what he was thinking right now. "Yes, that's true. But this time he didn't tell me"

"Is it because he doesn't want to lose what little power he still has?" Tikka asked rhetorically.

But Kotaru shook her head. "No. Because he realized that we aren't under his orders, and that he cannot order us to leave if we don't want him to"

Tikka and Teramon looked at her with wide eyes, clearly not expecting that answer. But Kotaru didn't stop: "I know you're angry and disappointed, and also scared, and you have the right to be. I doubt that our family will ever be as united as they once were. But I want to believe that it will, so I'm telling you clearly and round: Haku is trying to improve. It's not a simple process, of course, but after that night he comprehended how many mistakes he made, he understood where he was wrong and... other things too, but he'll tell you when he'll want to tell you. So, he changed his behavior and started to trust others more. I know that after what he did it will be hard for you to give him a second chance, but as you said we are a family. And families try to stick together, not no matter how much adversity hangs over them... or how much foolishness its members do"

Tikka and Teramon looked at each other with dubious eyes. Those words seemed to have struck them deeply. But still Tikka shook her head. "We can't give him a second chance. I told you, we wouldn't feel comfortable with him around. Especially the poor Rhaegal"

"Sometimes he still involuntarily touches his face" Teramon said. "He remembered the moment Haku hit him"

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy" Kotaru replied. "It will be a long and difficult process… but that shouldn't stop us from trying. When you get a wound, you need to heal it, not just ignore it. You can disregard it, but the wound will continue to bleed. I know that for you now it's hard to even think about forgiving him... but believe me when I tell you that one day you will regret this choice"

Tikka and Teramon looked seriously dubious. They looked towards the great basilisk's carcass, where Haku and Darbi were doing… something they couldn't understand. "You two will never come back without him, right?" Teramon asked.

Kotaru shook his head. "I can't speak for Darbi, but I won't abandon our brother today or in the future, even if he asks me to"

Tikka and Teramon nodded. "We respect your decision and we will say what you told us to others. But don't expect great results"

Kotaru smiled anyway. "It's enough for the others to know" she said in a satisfied voice.