"We're home!" Mr. Degget called his wife and son upon entering their house.
"You stubborn, stubborn boy! How many times have I told you— Hey!" The yelling Mrs. Degget holding a ladle pointing towards Anton that is across the other side of the table welcomes the two.
Anton spotting Ruina rushes behind her. "I already told you a hundred times, I don't want to eat vegetables!" He yelled back and stuck his tongue out in protest to his mother.
His action pissed Mrs. Degget more the veins in her forehead are popping. Oh dear Lumelia, what a handful of brat you bless me. Mrs. Degget thought, blewing her irritation in defeat and lowering her ladle. She set her eyes to her husband and Ruina. "Welcome back."
"What did you cook? I'm starving!" Mr. Degget lay down his coat in the corner. Ruina picks them up and places them at the nearby rack. Mrs. Degget will scold him endlessly if she sees his coat littering around the living room. Shortly following in the kitchen.
"Vegetable stew and I roasted the fish you caught this afternoon." Mrs. Degget settled beside her husband.
"That is more than enough, darling." Mrs. Degget kissed the side of Mrs. Degget's cheek. A tad of redness shows.
"Ugh, get a room!" Anton distorted his face in disgust and harshly took a bite on the fish.
"You mustn't interrupt, Anton. Didn't you know, when two people love each other they kiss?" Ruina innocently whispered to him with both her hands beside her mouth.
"Big sis, are you a child?" Anton asked.
Ruina tilted her head, confused by his question. She is right though? When people love each other they kiss and become sweet. That is what Mrs. Degget taught her before, although she doesn't know how a person can become sweet? Do they taste like candy or chocolate when they are in love? Do they become edible?
Oh that's right, I almost forgot. Ruina stood up and took a clothed bread from the basket of cabbages. She placed it at the center of the table. "The Baker's son gave me this earlier. It's a meat bread he baked." She simply said.
"My, my! Looks like the Baker's son took the first move!" Mrs. Degget squeals in excitement.
"What do you mean by that?" Mr. Degget asked, his voice edged with spite as his teeth tore into the fish.
"Well, it's a little game me and the other wives created. We were betting who'll take the first move on their sons. Ruina is really popular, and because of her doll-beauty many young men want to ask for her hand—!"
"WHAT!!" Anton and Mr. Degget erupted at the same time, causing Mrs. Degget to flinch in her seat, startled. "No way in hell!" They protest in unison.
Mr. Degget snapped at her direction. "Ruina, did you accept this bread because you want to marry that boy?"
Anton's eyes flaring, anticipating her answer too. He ought to bully that man. No one can take his sister away. No one is worthy enough to deserve his sister. He refused! He repeated— HE REFUSED!
Ruina tilted her head, confusion settling across her expressionless face— courtship and marriage were matters she's scarcely knowledgeable about. "I only accept it, because I thought it'll be a great addition to our dinner, is something wrong with that?" Is she not supposed to accept any food someone will give her?
The two men of the house breathe in relief. While Mrs. Degget is grinning so wide watching them. "Ruina is at the age of marriage. In the near future, it cannot be avoided."
"Age of marriage?! AGE OF MARRIAGE?! Are you insane! Look at her! She just turned seventeen, just a little girl!" Mr. Degget pointed at Ruina munching the potato with a blank face. Delicious. She complimented. "The sky will burn first before I see her walking down the aisle!" He strongly protests stabbing his carrot wishing it is the face of the Baker's son.
How can the sky burn? Sometimes this family says weird things that Ruina can't understand.
Mr. Degget, still seething of newly found resentment over the baker's son, his mind drifted to the matter of evacuation, soothing his temper instantly. How was he supposed to break this to his family? What lies had the Elders fed the others? Would deceit truly protect them? Wouldn't that make things worse? Uncertainty and uneasiness already resides within them. No— The truth had to be spoken. People had already sensed something wrong. They are not idiots. Sooner or later, the truth would resurface, and fear would follow. He trusts his family to carry the information with caution.
"Felicia, I went to the Chief earlier— the situations about the livestocks are more dreadful than we thought." He started. Ruina glanced at him. The dinner turned quiet.
"It must be. Whatever attacks our livestock at night almost left us with nothing." Mrs. Degget shrugged as she took a sip on her glass of water, unaware of the big danger behind the attacks.
"Father, did you tell them about the river earlier?" Anton connected.
"I did." Mr. Degget simply answered.
"What did the Chief and the Elders say?" Ruina muttered. All eyes turn to the head of the family.
"We are ordered to evacuate first light tomorrow." He declared. "We're heading to the inner region as I am off to the palace to request aid." He repeated the words of Chief Rondor.
"Evacuate?! For what? And so soon!" Mrs. Degget exclaimed.
"What happened, father?" Anton, voice hinting with anxiousness.
Mr. Degget hesitated to answer. "We're infested… of Beasts."
The lively dinner was halted by a blooming fear. They know. Ruina thought. Did they find the nest? Did they see what happened at the woodland? The Chief is a smart man, he must've noticed. Is that why they are leaving? In any case, they're leaving, then everything is good, right? That way no one has to get hurt, no one has to die, and no one has to suffer. She will not lose everything again.
"But–but… the blessing—" Mrs. Degget begins to descend into fear.
"Is strong and will protect us." Mr. Degget immediately added. "However, we must leave our village to prevent the worst from happening."
"Then, does everyone know this?" Mrs. Degget's voice slightly trembled.
"The Elders are ordered to feed the others lies, but I cannot spare you the truth."
"But they are coming too, right?" Anton asked anxiously, they can't abandon them and escape. These were the people they spend their daily lives with. They are their friends.
"Yes, they are."
"Felicia, I know it is terrifying. But we must carry this information with caution to not cause hysteria." Mr. Degget closed his hands around his wife's trembling ones, steadying them as he held her gaze, his expression hard and unwavering. "Knowledge of the Beast's presence is not to be underestimated. That is why I'll be leaving to head to the palace to notify the king of our crisis. They will be the one to slay these abominations. Until then, we cannot alert the Beasts of the danger befalling them. They must be eliminated."
"Then why did you tell us this? You know how we will react." Mrs. Degget stated. Anton agreed in his mind, holding his own dread blooming within him.
"To know the weight of doom is to approach our survival with lots of consideration." This time, it was Ruina who silently agreed with him.
"Once we reach the inner region, I'll be separated from you. When I'm done with my mission, I am to return to the village and help our people." He told his mission completely. "If I cannot see you, I cannot guarantee your safety. That is why it's better to tell you the truth." Knowing they'll be separated puts Mrs. Degget unease.
"Don't worry, dear. If the Kingdom fails to purge them, we won't be here to experience a nightmare they'll bring." His eyes drifted to Ruina who remained silent.
They cannot suffer the way they did. They can't. "I'll pack our things for travel." She blurted. She looked over Anton. "Will you help me?"
"You don't even need to ask." Anton speaks, clouding his fear so as to not overwhelm him.
"Thank you." She softly smiles as they continue their dinner.
The sky is darkened by a blanket of stars, a night for a sleeping village from the outskirts woodland disturbed by the cicadas singing their loud buzzing songs and the roaring snore of Mr. Degget across the other room.
Blood soaking her hand, bodies at her feet, fleshes crunches underneath her steps, screams for help, cries for mercy. Run. Run. Run! The fire is hunting! The claw is catching! THE WORLD IS BURNING!
Ruina bolts her eyes open in terror, a fist tightens to her sheets as her loud quick pant echoes her quiet room. Circling her gaze to the room she's resting, cold sweats soaks her clothes as she rises to no monsters around her. Ruina blew her sighs of worries and relief realizing she's safe.
Her eyes drifted to the peacefully sleeping little boy beside her. Ah, that's right. Anton wanted to sleep with her. He came knocking to her door, unable to sleep, afraid the monsters will take him away.
She swings her feet off the bed and sets her gaze out on the starry sky, calming her raging nerves. It's been nine years since the old couple found her wounded behind a tree after escaping a horrendous night from her homeland. She's forever in debt to them—'a debt must be paid in favors.' That is the headmaster's teaching.
Her cold hands reached for the silvery moon tied in red string hanging around her neck. The last remnant of her homeland. She lifted her gaze to the shy silvery moon hiding behind the clouds.
Dear moon from heaven, we'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I am forever grateful to the Chief for quickly finding a way to bring everyone to safety. I honestly have no idea what I will need to do to protect them. I don't know how to fight. That is why, moon from heaven, I humbly plead for your graceful moonlight to cast protection for us tonight. Let us have our last night here in peace.
The monsters are lurking, hunting their prey in every corner of the woodland and valleys - chasing after them. Playing them. Feasting them.
Ruina opened her eyes upon a thought. "I hope tomorrow will come faster." Her quiet voice whispers in the cold air.