The Prisoner and The Slave

The Descent of the Star-born

That was the historical title given to the Cataclysm. Yuna's mother had come from a lineage of storytellers, and she had shared the stories with Yuna not long before Brightmoor invaded and pillaged everything. 

According to Yuna, the clouds that permeated the skies of the Fallen Lands only ever parted on rare occasion. Perhaps it was once each century, or once every five centuries. Whatever the case, the results were always the same. When night came on that cloudless night, celestial beasts would descend from the sky and bring the people of the Fallen Lands to the brink of extinction. The beasts weren't able to be harmed by conventional weapons, and they always seemed to stop just shy of killing off everyone. 

Itsuki pondered this as he and Yuna traveled through the wastes. With his knowledge of geography and Yuna's skills in survival and hunting, they had made relatively easy work of it thus far. It gave him time to think about what came ahead, and try to figure out why this world was in the turmoil it was in. The fact that the Cataclysm always stopped just shy of extinction seemed too noteworthy to be a coincidence.

Yuna's other noteworthy point was that no one was immune to their rampage, not even 'summoned beings' such as him. Summoning rituals had apparently been more commonplace before the last cataclysm, hoping that heroes from another world would be able to defeat the beasts. It always ended in failure, however, and the people lost hope in that thought. It was like an Isekai manga from his homeworld, except the heroes had failed in their mission repeatedly. 

"Is everything okay?" Yuna's voice pulled him from his daze. 

"Yeah. Just lost in thought, sorry."

"Look, over there!" she exclaimed, pointing off towards some hilly terrain in the distance. "I bet there's a small cave along that area that we can camp in for the night. Let's go!"

They reached the hilly terrain in a short time. Sure enough, with some navigation, they were able to locate a cave. A boar had apparently claimed it as their home, but the two were able to easily dispatch of it. Yuna's aim with a bow was terrifying, and he was able to use the spear to great efficiency as long as he wasn't caught off-guard. 

Like clockwork, the two began setting up camp. Yuna got to cleaning and cooking the boar, while Itsuki worked on organizing supplies and setting up some mats to sleep on. Like an orchestrated duet, they were done and enjoying food not too long before the night settled in. 

"What is it that you think you'll find in the city?" Yuna asked. "Is it related to your mission?"

"I'm really not sure. Before I came to this world, I was with two people who are very important to me. One of them was a girl who looks eerily similar to the description of this 'Goddess of Life'. They didn't awaken in this world with me, so maybe they woke up somewhere else? I really won't know unless I go there."

"A girl, huh...?"

Itsuki found it strange that Yuna got hung up on that detail. Yuna didn't elaborate any further than that, and so the thought died there. 

"You said there was a second person with you?"

"My younger brother. He's pretty smart, but he's just a kid. Part of the reason I'm so desperate to find her is because I'm praying he is also there...and not lost out in this crazy world."

Itsuki stared at the small fire they had crafted as he thought on the implications of his words. Yuna pondered as well, wanting to make sure she chose the right words rather than leaving it at that. 

"He must be okay," she assured aloud. "If he's also God-marked and even half as smart as you are, I'll bet he figured it out. You managed to survive Brightmoor, and there's not many places I know of that are as bad as that."

"Really? How many places do you know of?"

"Well...not many," she admitted, blushing. "But still, I don't think you or him would have been brought here by the gods if they simply intended for you to be killed off. You could also be right, and maybe his is in Evermere. With this girl...friend?"

"You're hung up on that bit."

Yuna chuckled, "I guess so. That's not a topic I got a particularly large amount of experience in. If I was hunting or listening to stories, I was helping raise my siblings. Before any of them were old enough to help..."

Her voice trailed off. Itsuki understood what that meant - he hadn't seen anyone else with unusually green hair amongst the slaves of Brightmoor. Yuna may have survived due to some stroke of luck, but it was clear that she was alone in that. 

"Still, you must've had at least some experience with it?" Itsuki questioned, trying to keep the conversation more lighthearted. "A girl as pretty as you must've at least gotten some attention back in your home village? Tell me there wasn't at least one boy somewhere?"

"Most of them thought i was weird. Hunting was a man's job, and my tomboyish hobbies didn't really signal 'partner material' to them. If I'm being honest, the first compliment I've ever received about my personality or my appearance...came from you."

Now it was Itsuki's turn to let the conversation trail off. In an attempt to keep the conversation away from tragedy, he had unwittingly made it uncomfortable in an entirely new way. He hadn't thought about romance at all since his confession to Amane. He had gotten rejected, but he hadn't had a chance to find out why. Was it unfixable, or something they could've worked through? Here was this pretty girl right next to him who cared for his safety - should he put more thought into that?

Did any of it even matter in this twisted world he found himself in?

"We should get ready for bed," Yuna suggested, blushing and also feeling that the conversation had drifted. "This cave is a rare chance for both of us to keep some sleep with a limited watch. We should take advantage of it and cover more ground in the morning."

With that established, the two continued on routinely. They took care of the leftovers, put out the fire, and made sure their perimeter was secure before they each picked a spot to lie down. 

"Good night, Itsuki," Yuna spoke as she got herself comfortable. "I'm not sure what we'll discover once we get to Evermere. I do know, though, that I'm happy I've gotten the chance to be with you."

Yuna fell asleep shortly after that, her breaths relaxing as she drifted off. Itsuki was left with a small maelstrom of thoughts swirling around his brain. He knew that her goal was to lift his spirits, and to give him hope that there will be a good outcome to all of this. What she felt and how she viewed him, however, left him with a few more questions than answered. He pondered these thoughts until sleep naturally overtook him. When he awoke, he expected it would be morning and he could tackle it one day at a time. 

That was the thought he had until he opened his eyes again, and saw a pool of water and a golden dragon sitting before him.