The Lives of Happiness Chapter 5

[CrossedSachi† 0]

Okay folks, after nearly a year of no writing at all, I finally sat down and wrote a new chapter to my story! I hope you enjoy it, and please don't expect me to push out chapters this fast all the time. Also remember, ad-lib wherever I might have messed up.

 

The Lives of Happiness Chapter 5

 

I was cold. I was alone. I stood in the middle of a dark empty room, and could see nothing. Then suddenly, a light appeared in-front of me, right before my eyes. It was warm, and comforting but I didn't know why. I stared at it, and basked in its warmth. Then unexpectedly, a voice came from the light, and this voice itself was very warm, and loving.

"Sachi....reach for the light...."

 

At this point in time, four days had passed since my encounter with Mikai, and that she-cat. I sat in bed for a few moments this morning, as I did every morning, contemplating what seemed like messages that went through my dreams. Usually it was the same message in repeat, though this one was new, and I made some sort of an attempt at understanding it but gave up shortly. I then dressed myself and walked out of my room into the kitchen, and surely enough Buraki and Shira were there as usual. Shira was working on making breakfast while Buraki was rushing around trying to finish up some late morning chores of his that I was too tired to ask about.

 

"Oh good morning Sachi, did you have a good night sleep?" Shira asked me, staring at me with that usual warm smile she almost always had on her face.

"Uhm, oh, yes, thank you for asking ma'am" I smiled and looked off a bit distantly.

"Sachi, is something wrong? You look a bit troubled, child" She placed down the food she was working with and wiped her paws off on to her apron as she walked over to me to give me a closer look I presumed, and suddenly placed her paw on my forehead.

"Uhhh, what are you doing?" I asked, looking at her with a sort of dumb expression.

"Hmm, you don't feel like you have a temperature. What's wrong?" She pulled her paw back and crossed her arms, looking at me with a half-worried face.

"Oh it's really nothing to worry about Shira, I just have a lot on my mind is all, I'm terribly sorry." I slightly bowed my head in apology to her.

"It's no problem dear, I understand fully. I tend to get a lot on my mind myself every now and again, and I suppose it makes me a bit distant myself as well, haha, well alrighty then, I've almost gotten breakfast finished so why don't you take a seat?" She motioned at the table and then went back to working with the food she was preparing. I simply nodded at her and sat down at the table, taking a whiff of the food she was preparing and it smelled very nice. Actually everything Shira cooked smelled nice, and it tasted really good as well, even when I didn't know what it was. Though I did learn a few things while I was there, I thought to myself as I picked up a small fruit that was already laying out on the table. It was small and red, and looked a little like a radish. It felt hard to the touch, but it was actually very soft if you bit into it, and it had a very sweet tropical taste to it. I believe they called it a Sproggit.

 

Shortly after my little talk with Shira, she had breakfast laid out and Buraki was there waiting to be served. With a happy, yet somewhat tired expression glued to his face, sort of in the way that you might have predicted the exact expression.

"So, I overheard you and Shira talking. Saying you got a lot on your mind, well what might that be exactly?" He asked me, giving me a sort of funny look, as if I might be keeping something interesting from him he would like to know.

"Huh?" Was what I replied as I looked up from my food, "Oh, no it's nothing important, I'm just thinking about things in general is all, nothing special" I said, then looked back down at my food and resumed eating.

"Hmm, well alright, though having too much on your mind like that can be unhealthy for ya, perhaps it's time we got you that job. It will keep your mind occupied, plus it will bring in some extra money to help us out." He just looked at me with a serious look on his face after saying this, waiting for me to give my reply.

"A job huh? Well I suppose that would be good for me in one way or another. What kind of jobs can I get around here?" I asked, and Buraki sat there for a moment thinking before he said anything in return.

"Hmm, well I can't say I know for sure what's available at this moment, but how about this. Just take a look around town today and see if you can find anything, if not, then I'll take you out to look for one tomorrow and we'll definitely get you a job." He then finished up his food after saying this and went to got up to place his dishes in the basin.

"Okay then, that will be just fine" I said and finished up my own food before getting up to take care of my own dishes. "I'll head out now and see if I can find anything."

"Oh but uh, before you go Sachi, I've got some things for you to do around the house when you get back, that pot in the bathroom is starting to build up a real killer of a stench." He chuckled and turned around to head into the living space. While I simply cringed at the thought, nodded and turned around to walk out.

"Have a nice walk dear!" Shira shouted at me, as I walked out the door.

 

The sun was shining bright, and it was a beautiful day. It was very warm out, though it was really arid that day, enough so that I had to stop by a nearby stream a few times to get a drink. I walked all over town that day, through the market area and the park, and through all the general housing districts. It wasn't that big of a town so it was easy to cover the entire area. I would note different places and small landmarks as I walked along, and keep track of them to easily remember a specific place. Though one thing special about that day that I did note, was that it seemed like there were a lot more people outside and about than usual, in fact, as far as I could tell, it looked like every person in town was outside, and many of them were also carrying big bags, which actually took me a while to notice. While I was walking through the market area of the town, I stopped and walked up to some random person carrying a big bag. He was a large orange cat, with a sort of plump figure, and he sported a red shirt with the sleeves pulled back and a pare of small round sunglasses.

"Uhm, excuse me, sir?" I said to him, simply attempting to get his attention, which worked easily, he turned around and looked at me with a curious look on his face, as to be expected from someone who just had a stranger come up to them. "Could you by any chance tell me why everyone is outside carrying bags around? I'm, uh, new in town and I'm not familiar with this." He sort of looked at me strange and then somewhat slowly opened his mouth to reply.

"Why, yesican, the dry season just started today and as such, the folks in town are all staying outside of their houses, along with their most prized possessions, in the fear that their houses may set on fire." After saying that he sported a smug smart look, and began to turn back around to continue on with whatever I had interrupted.

"Oh, well thank you!" I shouted after him, and then started walking in a different direction. It was kind of weird the way this world worked, so many things were uneven and imbalanced, and people here always seemed to worry about one thing or another, although at this point I also started to think to myself if I should even be referring to the citizens of this world as 'people'. Regardless, I brushed away all the thoughts I had going on in my mind for that moment, and began to enjoy the scenery of the town again, taking a look at different buildings every so often to keep myself vigilant should I have had come across any chances for a job.

 

A while later, after I had been walking around for a considerable amount of time, I looked up to check the sun to try and get an idea of what time it was. I didn't have a watch, neither had I seen any clocks around town, so I went with what I had, and by the looks of it, I had guessed that it was probably sometime around four or five in the afternoon. I decided that it may be a good idea to head back to the Sakanas home, so I turned my direction to head there. Except, I didn't end up going back there, because as I turned around to walk, I heard a loud scream off in the distance, and turning my head I perked my ear up to listen.

".....Fire!...Help!..." That was what I heard and without thinking I turned myself back around and ran towards the scream for help and what I came across was horrifying. It was a large, three story building, and it was one of the very few brick buildings in the town, and this one just so happened to be the town's only hotel. The entire building was up in a blaze, with large waves of fire bursting through windows and shooting up through the roof of the building, though of course the brick itself was fine, but as the fire grew hotter I could see as some of the bricks in the walls were starting to crack from the heat. I ran up to someone in the large crowd surrounding the building.

"Hey! You! Can you tell me what happened here?!" I had to shout at the person as the noise of the fire and the crowd around it was loud. The person turned around and to my surprise, it was Mikai from a few days ago.

"What do you think bozo eh!? It's a fire!" Then he actually looked at me and realized who I was, "Oh! It's you from before eh! I didn't recognize you! Sorry but I don't know how the fire started eh! Though I heard someone saying that there is someone still trapped inside there eh!" He turned around and looked back at the fire, and almost immediately after he had said that, the entire world just seemed to slow down, and all of my senses became stronger. Looking around at everything at what felt like my normal speed, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I turned and looked at the fire as I heard a long bellowing shriek of fear come from the building, and without hesitation I ran towards the building and lept into the doorway that had been burned away by the flames.

 

As I entered the building, the smoke had almost immediately become unbearable, so I covered my nose and mouth with the collar of my shirt. The building was crumbling as I ran through it. Bits of support and scaffolding fell to the floor in large embering crashes. I managed to find my way to the stairwell, and was led on by the scream that continued to echo through the building. I was lucky that the stairs had not yet burned away, but some of it was starting to catch fire below me as I ran up them. It was almost as if the fire was chasing me. I ran up to the third floor of the building and followed the scream through the hallways, and it seemed to take ages but after a time of running around fires and blazes, and avoiding falling debris, I finally came to the door the scream was coming from. I opened the door and the first thing I noted was that it was a utility closet. I looked down and there was the girl, or more accurately a woman, but I couldn't make out who or what she was because the room began to flood with a black smoke.

"Wh-who are you?" She asked, and then coughed from the smoke. I noted that even though fearful, her voice was smooth and calming.

"I'm here to get you out of here!" I said to her, and I reached my paw out to her. She tried to grab it but fainted on the floor, so I had no other choice, I picked her up in my arms and held her in a cradling fashion. Surprisingly it was easier to pick her up than I expected, she felt very light and was easy to hold. I then turned around, trying to keep somewhat low to the floor, but it was hard since I was carrying someone in my arms. I ran through the blazing hall, a few holes were now appearing in the thick wood floor, that I had to be careful to avoid. I made it back to the stairwell, but to my dismay, the fire had now burned the staircase away, leaving me stranded on the third floor. Not only that but more and more of the walls began to crack and break apart, and I could hear as a small portion of the wall in the back of the building was collapsing. I moved frantically looking for another way out but to no avail, when suddenly I looked over my shoulder and there I saw a window, and it had not yet been broken open from the fire. Looking at it for a moment I made up my mind, and backed away form the window, facing it the entire time. Then, in one quick action, I bolted for the window, holding the woman tight in my arms, I bent my head forward and braced myself, jumping into the air, I sent my entire body crashing through the window, and as I flew through the air, a massive ball of fire burst through the opening behind me, scorching my tail in mid air. Time once more slowed down, and I flipped myself around in mid-air, putting myself below the woman. With one loud thud, I crashed into the ground, and fell unconscious.

[Carson Coyote† 0]

Wow, you're amazing!

[JuliaWolf† 0]

Very good!

[Fahn† 0]

SUSPENSE... CAN'T TAKE IT!! 8O

 

MUST READ PART!!

[Diamond 0]

Wow, I want to see the next one now!