Young Writers Society

"It depends on the world," Kirux signed. Grim, who was watching this exchange and realizing that some of the people present didn't know sign language, guessed that he would have to be the translator moving forward, but he could handle that. "I think I can get to Ethan! But, if not, it'll bring us to somewhere important in the world, and then we can find Ethan from there!"

Grim relayed the message verbatim, just barely copying the excited, childlike tone that Kirux had conveyed while signing.

"Yay!" Taber said, clapping his paws together. He paused, then looked over at Nich. "Does that sound alright?" It's perfectly fine if you're not comfortable with it - it's probably going to be very awkward whether you remember things or not."

Nich lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "It's fine," he said, and pushed off the wall. He'd been mostly watching Kirux's hands. "Ethan?"

Kirux's eyes widened.

"You don't remember Ethan?" he signed. Alarm flickered across his face, and he shot a very worried glance over in Grim's direction before turning back to Nich and signing with a frantic urgency, "Ethan's your boyfriend!"

Grim once again played translator, though there was worry in his voice as he conveyed the message.

Queenie stood up and signed to Kirux, "Of course he doesn't remember. Amnesia is a powerful thing. If you give him time, he might start to remember on his own. Be patient." There was a sharpness to the way she signed, conveying the matching tone she would have used had she spoken aloud.

A guilty expression flickered across Kirux's face when he saw how sharp Queenie was signing.

"I'm...I'm sorry," he signed. He ducked behind Grim, lips quivering underneath his mask as tears threatened to break free.

"Don't be so harsh with him," Grim said - not in a confrontational way, but a protective one. "He's just worried about Nich."

"Good for him. I'm just trying to point out that sitting around and talking about what he doesn't remember isn't going to trigger a memory. Not unless some serious coincidences occur. When my little sis lost her memory, I had to walk her around the manor and remind her of what happened where. If I had instead dragged her to an unfamiliar place and sat down to have a little chat about the friends she doesn't have and the good 'ol days that never happened, how much remembering do you think she would be doing?"

Queenie had said it all aloud, signing it at the same time to give her hands something to do.

Thinking about that incident gave her an extra spark of anger that bled into her voice. The bloodstained streets of Kroy knew carnage like never before in the wake of that one petty mistake. Queenie didn't even care about the starvation she suffered afterward. Five days of hunger was nothing compared to what those nobodies did to Briar, and to what Queenie did to them.

She finished her rant and huffed. The temptation to draw her gun again hit her. It wouldn't be good if she gave in.

She went to Ryder and pressed the weapon into his hands, "Hold onto this," she growled and stepped away. She wasn't unarmed now, she had her knives, but it felt better to know that she wouldn't be able to shoot anyone if that temptation came again.

Ryder had been silent the entirety of the newest conversation, but seeing the weapon placed into his hands brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at it. He wasn't entirely sure what it was - it seemed to be some kind of firing weapon - but he immediately found himself trying to figure out how it worked so he could replicate it when they got back home.


Now Kirux was silently sobbing - Grim could feel his body moving behind him, and could feel his cloak growing wet as Kirux's tears continued to fall. "It's alright, Kirux," he reassured him. His voice was soft and comforting. "Do you want a hug?"

He felt Kirux nod.

And then he was in front of him, throwing his arms around Grim and pulling him into a tight embrace as he cried into Grim's chest.

Grim hesitantly rubbed Kirux's back.

He looked over at Queenie, feeling Kirux shake in his arms. "He doesn't understand," Grim said. "He's just worried about Nich."

He briefly glanced down at Kirux.

"He's not as old as he looks," Grim said. He wasn't sure if it was his secret to share, but Kirux had never been secretive about it - the first time they met, he just hadn't brought it up until he was prompted to. "He's only a year old."

"What?" Lunis growled. Taber looked back in time to see the hound press his paws against the panther's chest, which did stop the panther from heading towards Kirux. Lunis still pointed at Kirux, though. "I got my butt kicked by a baby? That doesn't make sense. There's no way he's one."

Taber shrugged. "That's what he told me?" he said. "Grim can probably explain it better than me."