Haru

Return to Gurepu

Haru walked silently through the landscape of barren ground dotted with tall trees here and there. His patrol walked alongside him, their eyes wide and alert for enemies that posed a danger to the clan. The smallest member of the patrol, Aria, a small Fae, flew near his head. Her continuous wingbeats near to his ear were getting a bit annoying, but as a large Imperial, Haru was already used to tolerating these noises.

12.28pm. 12th of April. Today.

Haru blinked the numbers away and they vanished before his eyes. He scowled, and his patrol mates glanced curiously at him. He shook his head, indicating that he was fine, and the patrol continued onward.

But in reality, he was far from fine.

Since as far as he could remember, he had been seeing these numbers and dates pop up randomly before his eyes. But they only did when he was thinking about a dragon in particular. Nothing significant related to the numbers had happened, but he could not stop thinking about them. He did not dare to tell about this to anyone in case they isolated or outcast him for sorcery or something.

“Haru! Hurry up! We don’t have all day. We have to get back to camp with the report by twelve thirty!” The patrol leader, a tall Ridgeback named Marian, called to him. He ducked his head, a little embarrassed, and rushed to catch up.

The rest of the patrol passed rather uneventfully, but when they were just heading back to camp, Haru heard a creaking sound from far above him. He barely had time to shout out an alarm before the large severed tree trunk dove down at them. Must be the work of BeastClans. The patrol squealed and hurriedly moved away from the tree trunk’s path, but Aria was too slow. Her yells were cut off as the tree landed on the ground with a thump.

Haru looked up through the canopy. Judging by the time, it was almost twelve thirty, almost the time they had to be going back. Almost twelve thirty. Almost twelve thirty. The numbers she had seen flashing across his eyes half an hour ago burned into his mind.

“12.28pm. 12th of April,” he murmured under his breath. His eyes widened as he realised what it meant.

It was the exact time Aria died.

-- -- --

She could see how dragons died.

He could see when dragons died.

The two of them, together.

- - - - -

“Haru!” Bordeux’s voice came towards him through the foliage of the jungle. “It came again.” The female slipped into the clearing her mate was in, her eyes wide.

“What is it?” Haru asked, not as worried as his mate because he had been in this situation many times before, just like Bordeux. But this time she seemed a little more worried and scared than usual.

“You’re going to die,” she gasped, clutching his arm. “I saw a forest. Identical to this one. And there was a horde of BeastClans that attacked. Its leader slashed your throat and you fell from the air. I couldn’t save you in that vision.”

4.31pm. 7th October.

“I had a vision, too,” he answered. “In three hours, today. You’re going to die. This means we are probably going to die today, together.”

Bordeux was shaking her head. “No. I don’t want to die.” Her eyes now brimmed with tears, and she looked up fearfully at him. “Do you think...We can somehow alter the events such that we won’t die?”

- - - - -

Bordeux stood as still as possible, watching the dragon decoy’s leaf wings flutter in the faint breeze. Above her, somewhere high up in the canopy, Haru was lying in ambush, waiting to launch an all-out aerial attack from above the moment the BeastClans headed towards the decoy dragon. And here, Bordeux was going to use her magic to shield the both of them, and also launch magical attacks whenever she could. This way, the Beasts would not kill them.

“ARGHH!”

The war cry of the Harpy echoed throughout the forest and she hurriedly chanted a shielding spell. An invisible dome of magic covered and camouflaged her against enemies that used scent or heat to detect dragons. The next moment, the Harpy flock dove down into the clearing, sharp spears aimed at the decoy.

Bordeux used her magic to move the decoy a little, and even made it fight back. She had to distract the Harpies while Haru set up an attack above. These magic took a little strain on her mental energy, and just as she thought she could not hold on anymore, there was a whistle and several ice bolts shot down at the Harpies. Within seconds, they were eliminated.

With a satisfied smile, Bordeux stopped her spells and flew out just as Haru swooped down from above. They high-fived each other and smiled at each other.

“Good job,” Haru murmured, hugging her tightly. “We did it!”

- - - - -

She could see how dragons died.

He could see when dragons died.

The two of them, together.

A pair that cheated death.

@Starwindrider