-Break-

  One month ter

  Location: Campsite

  It has been one month sihe day we fronted Dónal, and sihen something new has been added to our lives to do every week.

  Looking towards Charles, I whisper, “Go give him the signal?”

  Walking up to get his food, Charles says, “Popopo, tatatato.”

  Some beastkin in the area ugh at Charles's words, but on the face of Dónal, I see him smiling with all his might.

  What the hell is with that smile, stop making it obvious! I knew Charles cked a sense of awareness but I think I just figured out where he got it from.

  -Break-

  Location: Far east of the River Lúide, inside a nearby forest

  As I stand in the forest beside Charles, from the forest I see Dónal appear, and when he sees us he runs towards Charles, and asks him, “How are you doing?”

  Tasteless as ever he says, “Fine.”

  With a bright but disgusting smile Dónal, says, “GREAT!”

  This iion now has bee our new arra. Since Dónal ’t talk to Charles anywhere else we have started to meet up in the forest, at least once a week.

  During the m we give a signal, and then Dónal makes arras to allow us to skip our duty, by either making a blind spot in their i of us.

  While it seem risky the beastkin would never suspect their own, especially a coward like Dónal to do something so dangerous, so at least for now, it is w.

  Looking at Dónal hands, Charles asks, “What’s that you’re holding?”

  “Oh, it is just a basket with some treats?”

  “Treats?” Charles asks.

  “Oh I requested some gifts from my family bae, and begrudgingly they sehis. So now I give you some muffins for your special day,” He says as he opens the basket.

  Looking ihe basket, I see some yellowish gold things, that have what looks to be fruit ihem, but ign that what did he mean by special day?

  Grabbing one, Dónal hands them to Charles and says, “Now try it.”

  Taking a strong bite out of it, Charles says, “It tastes nice.”

  Full of happiness, Dónal says, “Really that’s wonderful to hear.”

  Moving closer to them, I say, “Let me try one.”

  Taking his basket and moving it away, he says with eyes full of silent hatred, “These aren’t for you.”

  Φ It is so unfair, that this boy gets to spend all day with my Charles whenever he wants. It should be me, it should be me, die human!

  Φ Though despite this wonderful turn of circumstances, Dónal affe only seems to flow towards Charles, leaving me stantly on the receiving end of his jealous affe.

  But you see I have a trump card against him. Looking towards Charles, I say, “Charles.”

  “Dónal, let Nero have some.”

  Saddened he says, “But.”

  “Are you a bad person, because I don’t like bad people.”

  “NO!”

  “Then you should be o Nero.”

  Holding back his bloodlust and rage, Dónal says, “Here you go human!”

  Grabbing it, I say, “Oh thank you so much.”

  Then I start eating it with all my heart and soul. With my mouth watering from the sheer tastiness, I scream, “AMAZING!”

  “Then instantly I grab and take another one, which causes Dónal to hiss out of anger, but it doesn’t stop me as I start to eat the one, and uo stop myself I take another oer that and another.

  -Break-

  Holding the empty basket, Dónal is curled up into a ball, then says, “Those were for Charles, and you fihem all.”

  “Hey don’t overreact, of the ten Charles had three, almost half so I don’t see the big deal.”

  Walking over to Dónal, Charles gives him a thumbs up and says, “It’s ok,” with a smile.

  Seeing this causes Dónal to let go of the basket, and gives Charles a hug. It has only been three months since he learned how to say good job, and now he is giving encement just like that, I am so proud it almost brings me to tears.

  Stopping his hug from Charles, Dónal turns around and says, “Well it doesn’t matter since your teeth are going to be rooting from taking in that much sugar anyways!”

  Charles asks, “Why?”

  Φ Wait, this is my moment! I use this moment to enlighten Charles on how intelligent I am. All that study I did bae is finally ing in handy for something.

  “Well you see Charles-,”

  Nero interrupting me, says, “Your teeth are a hub for tless diseases to thrive and grow, and some foods make that process worse. So you must make sure to your teeth.”

  How did he know that? I thought this human was an idiot!

  “How do you do that?”

  THIS IS MY MOMENT! “Well you see it be done in tless ways-.”

  Interrupting me again, Nero says, “Well there are a few options for that. First, you chew on the end of some twigs, but that only works with certain trees.

  Another one requires the use of something to your teeth with, like cotton from sheep work, or the frayed end of some twigs, then you brush throughout your teeth to remove the leftover food in your mouth.

  This process be helped with the use of some sort of substao help remove the food and kill any diseases that are still there. My family like to use substance from the pnt caelestis remouens, it produces a substahat burns really bad but is great at whitening the teeth.”

  “I see, but I have never done any of that and my teeth are white.”

  Seeing Charles i with Nero, I fall to the ground in the defeat.

  Φ “Charles that’s impossible,” I say as I walk over to him.

  But staring at his teeth, I say, “They are in fact white. HOW!?”

  “I think it might be because I have flowy stuff stantly going through my teeth.”

  Dónal behind us says, “What flowy stuff.”

  “None of your business.”

  Looking at me, Charles, asks, “How do you know this stuff.”

  “I actually know a lot of stuff, like how this eation was the home of tless wonderbeasts before.”

  Dónal shocked says, “How did you know that?”

  “It is the ecosystem. When areas have had wonderbeasts withihey cause the local pnt life to forcefully adapt so it doesn’t pletely die out. This process is also made faster by the fact that the ecosystem gets life from the deposing bodies of wonderbeasts.

  It is something my saw a lot as travellers, pces with wonderbeasts were extra dangerous even if the beast themselves were easy to hunt, and pces without them were extremely easy to get through.”

  With a face of utter surprise, Dónal says, “You really aren’t dumb, I thought your head was filled with water.”

  “WELL FUCK YOU THEN!”

  As me and Dónal give each other looks of anger, Charles says, “How do you know all of these big words? It doesn’t seem like you.”

  “I feel like you just called me dumb.”

  “Cause you are,” Dónal says.

  This annoying little brat, aren’t you twenty-seven years old?

  Turning my head towards Charles, I say, “Well this is information passed down in my .”

  Dónal says, “Don’t lie to him, no way you humans would have suowledge.”

  “I guess that is true on some level because the reason my has this information isn’t because we figured it out but because we were given the information by the great sage .”

  “,” Charles says.

  “Yes, I am sure most humans know of her. The immortal sage who travels all around the world sharing important information with all of humanity. You see my used to have a lot of deaths before she taught us information about hygiene and other important pieces of knowledge.”

  “No way a human has that knowledge, and there is no way a human could ever live that long.”

  “Yet it happened. So shut up and listen.”

  “I REFUSE TO LISTEN TO THIS NONSENSE.”

  Charles stig up his hand, says, “I want to listen.”

  Instantly, I make a smug face towards Dónal. He responds by looking over toward Charles, and says, “I have lots of iing information to share as well.”

  “About what?”

  Dónal has a panicked expression as if his mind is about to explode while trying to think of something. Then with a crazed expression, he says, “I tell you about things bae.”

  Wait, isn’t this situation too good? If I find out more info about the beastkin it could help me find out more about how mom and my friends are doing. Ok Charles I need you to accept.

  Looking away from Dónal, he says, “No that sounds b.”

  As Dónal and I both look at Charles with equal amounts of heartbreak. Moving over towards Charles, I grab his head and say, “Of course, he wants to hear about your stories.”

  “I don’t.”

  Giving Charles a creepy smile, I say, “Yes you do.”

  Staring at Dónal, Charles says, “Yes I do.”

  With a smile, Donal says, “Far towards the east of Victoria, is the first home of the beastkin, Tír na n-iontas. It is split into four provinces which are watched over by the twelve families of the red branch, including mihe Fuinseog.

  Each of the four provinces is ruled by one of the families of the red branch within it, and I happen to be from eastern one; Gorias. However, my family aren’t the ruler of that area.

  All four families serve the high king, who lives in the tre of the four provinces, and is called-.” Suddenly Dónal puts his hands over his mouth, and says, “I have said too much like an idiot.”

  Charles says, “That’s good.”

  “No, it most certainly isn’t. I have to go now, you two o return back to your posts.” With those words Dónal runs off.

  As he leaves eye view, I say, “I would have liked to get some more information.”

  Staring at me, Charles says, “Good job?”

  “Yep, really good job.”

  -Break-

  Location: Campsite

  Laying my back against the floor, I look up at the ceiling of my hut and try to rex, but the pains from my work today are attag me.

  Even though I did less work than usual I am still feeling it, maybe even worse. I guess the moments of rexation, just made the work more painful.

  Though it is funny to think that I used to be allowed to be like that whenever I wanted. Now those moments of freedom are a luxury. I truly wonder if a day will e when it is normal again.

  Beside me, Charles says, “Nero.”

  “Yes, Charles?”

  “What’s you’re family name?”

  “Well, each family in my had the same st name, Anima. But why do you want to ask.”

  “I just thought it was iing, family names.”

  “Well of course it is, that’s what unites us to each other, and to our aors.”

  “Then am I not with anyone since I don’t have one.”

  Uanding my mistake, I say, “No not at all. But why are you asking all this.”

  “Dónal told me that today is my birthday, and he said you're supposed to celebrate it with your family. But there is no family where I belong.”

  “Well you always have me, and even that weirdo Dónal.”

  “But still you each have your own families, to care for, and that care for you. I don’t, but I feel nothing towards it. So I was just w what I should be doing and who I should be doing it with for today?”

  That idiot Dónal couldn’t just tell him, he wao celebrate it with Charles, and now he has this stupid idea. “Ok then Charles, well then if you have no family let’s make one. My family name is Anima, so ours will now be Animus.”

  “But don’t you already have one?”

  “I discard it from this moment on. My bond with everyone else is strohan a simple name, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but from now on me and you are both part of a new family; Animus.”

  “Animus,” Charles says as he smiles.

  “Do you like it?”

  Tastelessly he says, “Yes.”

  Some more passion would have been appreciated. “My birthday is in the fifth month, so two months from now, and I would appreciate if you got me some muffins from Dónal then.”

  “Ok, I will.”