Sizzle. Sizzle.

Under the sound of the burning flame and starlit sky, gazing through the depths of a beast's rage, Fatir welcomed the heartfelt greeting of a friend.

"Mriu, welcome back!"

Seeing large sharp and deadly claws towards his head as his words left his mouth, Fatir smiled as he extended his hand out and grabbed the paw of Mriu and shook it, the claws cracking and vanishing. This was the normal handshake they've come to know.

Miru roared with a furious rage in their eyes, but was quietened by a wind wall that covered their head, encasing them in their own little world.

Shaking his head but still smiling, though now lighter, Fatir stood with Yul lightly cradled on him.

"Miru, don't be too loud, Yul is sleeping," Fatir spoke in a peaceful manner angering Miru even greater.

But though angered, Miru slowly calmed as Fatir's words processed in their mind. Huffing, Miru lowered their front arms as they started to silently walk forward, going ahead of Fatir.

With slow and comfortable steps, Fatir followed as he sang a calming lullaby as Yul slept. His tone holding melancholy.

The lullaby calmed the mind of Miru and gave the listening animals around an odd peace as they felt safe and began to slumber...

As Fatir, Yul and Miru distanced, burning dim, the flame of the campfire behind them as if suddenly cut, halted for a moment as it began shattering and flickering before vanishing. The light and warmth it provided became null as a frozen chill quickly filled the area. The trees seemed to wilt, and the leaves froze over as they fell like snowflakes, whilst the animals slowly and painlessly passed without feeling.

Feeling everything clearly, Fatir could only sigh with a cold heart.

Continuing the lullaby, Fatir looked towards Miru for a moment before looking elsewhere. 'They were surviving, at least a thread lived...' he silently thought.

This result of fate was partly his fault... as such, he took the grudges openly.

Fatir's divine flame had brought a dead land to life and provided solace for one, but he can no longer linger, the purpose of his descent had come closer, the lives brought returned to ash. It's a simple matter, but a complicated order of laws.

'Perhaps this is freedom... no longer living by a false string.' Fatir wondered without seeking an answer, as it was meaningless to do so.

As they headed towards the southern side of the forest, neither Miru nor Fatir looked back as the Northern side returned to its true state, though Fatir felt the souls disappearing one after the other. It wasn't anything pleasant.

With every step they took, a life vanished and the echoing cries of Miru's broken soul filled the ears and mind of Fatir, descending to the first gate of his soul.

...

"Here we go, slowly and carefully follow my steps."

Inside the kitchen of his small eatery, Tale looked over the children as he slowly taught them how to make a nice and simple snack.

"Ah no! Brother Tale, I messed up again!"

"Me too!"

"Arrg!"

Things weren't going well, though. For a simple recipe that didn't take much of anything, Tale was surprised by how much of a mess it could create.

Well... it was to be expected, he was guiding them but allowing them to try on their own, and most important to note was that they were just children and didn't have prior practice nor knowledge.

Tale just laughed lightly as he patiently guided them, helping fix mistakes.

The events of the other world were being kept separate from his normal mental focus on this side, so he was able to keep away any showings of expressions that needed not be shown at this current time.

"Come on, focus! You can do it!" Little Wendy said with a cheering voice as she corrected some of the other children whilst Tale was focusing on another. She and one other were the only ones to get it perfect, though the other was the quiet type. He was next to Tale, watching over the group with him.

"Brother Tale, shouldn't you finish this up now? The mess is getting bigger..." Tally, asked as he lightly tugged on Tales shirt as he looked around at the spilt ingredients and other equipment.

"Hm... it's alright, let them have their fun, they're learning from their mistakes either way... and look..."

Hearing a snap of a finger,

Tally watched as a big part of the created mess just suddenly vanished. His eyes widened slightly as stars seemed to twinkle in his eyes, but quickly returned to normal.

"But... aren't you losing a lot of stuff?" Tally asked with an annoyed expression as he looked at the other children wasting so many ingredients. He didn't expect little Wendy to not think about that as well, he was a bit disappointed as he watched her teach the others as they wasted so many resources.

Hearing Tally, Tale lightly chuckled and just patted Tally's head, but didn't say anything due to dealing with the mental connection to his other-self.

Tally just sighed at Tale as he shook his small head. He just considered this Tale being too kind which made him a bit more annoyed at the others, but he slowly calmed as he used the calming method Tale had taught everyone, though that didn't mean everyone understood it. Tale is never forceful with any of his teachings, so only those that really paid attention knew it.

After a bit, as the sun went down,

Everyone had prepared their treats and were helping clean up. Tally had taken sudden command and started giving instructions along with Wendy. They gave the proper doable tasks for the different age ranges as Tale watched.

Tally had told Tale to only help with things children shouldn't touch, he didn't want Tale to use his power as he apparently wanted to help with something after everyone wasted so much. Tale was somewhat surprised at the request but said yes at the end after a lot of words from Tally and later Wendy. It helped him calm this side a bit as it gave him a sense of peace.

"Good job everyone, but I'll do the rest, now come over, the snacks will get cold otherwise, we don't want that!"

.

.

Coming into Soulace Way, the families of the children probably wouldn't have ever expected the surprise of their children offering them their own handmade treats with proud smiles.

Watching them as they enjoyed their family bonding, Tale from a corner slowly turned his face and he covered it with his left hand for a moment as sweat seemed to form on his forehead.

Wiping it away, Tale turned back and looked to see Tally and Wendy coming his way.

"Brother Tale, come join us! Everyones waiting!"

Hearing Wendy, Tale lightly nodded as he put on a small smile.

"Alright. I'll bring over my treats then." He responded as he made sure to fully mask his demeanor from a moment ago.

...

"The Elven Edell settlement... we've arrived, I suppose."

Looking ahead, Fatir appeared in front of Miru as he grabbed the tip of an arrow with his fingers.