(no screenshots today)
Jiki wasn’t used to being around other nichelings. Let alone a nicheling who seemed to have severe memory loss. Emi didn’t know the simplest things, they didn’t know that they had to eat, sleep, and drink. It was almost strange how they had survived this long already, but Jiki chalked it down to luck. He lifted the rabbil, that had been plaguing his berry bush for the past few days, in his mouth. Emi would be excited to see the rabbil finally defeated, considering they liked the taste of the berries the rabbil kept stealing. Surprised, Jiki shook his head with a grumble.
‘Thear nom sthaying here.’ He said out loud, his words muffled by rabbil. He’d just drop Emi off at the port once they were able to travel by themselves. This place was Jiki’s home, and he didn’t need it to be cluttered up by another nicheling. He liked the silence, the repetetiveness of it all. It was uniform. He didn’t want it to change. His pawtseps crushed the fallen leaves of the tree they had both been staying under. Stiffening, he realised Emis familiar shape was gone.
‘Memi?’ He called, before dropping the rabbil. ‘Emi!? This is a stupid joke!’ No one came out of the bushes to scare him, or tell him they were just exploring. A bearyena could have eaten them. A rogue male might have killed them. Jiki’s head was getting more and more crowded as he ran around the clearing, looking for traces of Emi. The silence around him suddenly wasn’t as comforting as it had been. The realisation dawned upon him that they might have went to the port. Leaving the rabbil, he sprinted in that direction.
A short moment later, he stumbled across Emi. They were walking as if in a trance, slowly, their pawsteps sure even though Emi wasn’t looking where they were going.
‘Emi!’ Jiki snapped. Emi jumped, and then looked over to him. They smiled, before confusion crossed their face. ‘Why did you just run off like that, I thought you were dead or eaten or something-’
‘I’m sorry, what happened?’ Emi whispered, still slightly confused.
‘You walked off by yourself!’ Jiki sat down with a huff.
‘I think I remember now.’ Emi nodded, now looking slightly guilty. ‘I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help it. I was sitting still for too long, and I know I just need to get to that port, I have to. But why are you upset?’
‘I’m not-’ He started, before closing his mouth. He had been upset. He’d only known Emi for a few days, so why did he care? ‘I wasn’t that upset.’ He shrugged. ‘Just kind of worried. Look, let’s just get back, okay?’
Emi vehemently shook their head. ‘We can’t. I can’t. Whatever is glowing inside me… It’s not a tug anymore, It almost hurts. I just can’t go in the opposite direction Jiki.’
Jiki frowned, leaning forward a little. ‘You sure this isn’t something to do with your head damage? We can-’
‘It’s not!’ Emi snapped, before guiltily glancing at the ground. ‘Thank you for your help, but I need to go now.’ They stood up and walked away into the grasses. Jiki’s heart sank, but he ignored it, scowling instead. If Emi wanted to leave, he couldn’t stop them. And he didn’t want to stop them. He would do just fine by himself, like he always did.