Side-Story – Interludes: Volume Two – CH.91.5 – Vim – To Find Fault Within

Placing the box of flux down on the table, I wondered if I should let Lellip be the one to make this batch.

She of course already knew how to make steel, having been taught by Nebl, but me making sure she knew the proper way was likely something I should verify. I'd vowed to not teach such methods so liberally anymore, but I still made it a point to make sure a few people here and there knew such things. Just in case they or the Society needed the benefits the knowledge brought and I wasn't around to provide it. Pram knew, having grown up during the height of this place, but she didn't care much for the forge. So I needed to make sure Lellip knew what she needed… After all, with her grandfather gone…

She was the last smith. The last real one, at least.

"It always happens eventually, doesn't it…?" I mumbled.

Nebl and his family have been around a long time. So long that even I must have assumed that they'd… just always be so.

Yet time was not forgiving. It didn't care. It was ruthless.

With Nebl's death, this bloodline would die out. Pram was pregnant, so of course the family was still growing… and also there was Lellip, but that was a far cry from this smithing family's old status.

There used to be dozens of them. So many that this had basically been a small village. There used to be dozens of buildings all around this smithy, buildings that had always been lively and full of people and visitors. For every monkey smith there had been a handful of apprentices and helpers, here to learn and aid the Society. Now there was barely enough to fill a single house anymore. Renn and I both had our own rooms in the main house to stay in during our visit, and that fact alone was ridiculous. There'd been times I'd shown up and people had been sleeping in the workshops or smithy, waiting for a new house to be built for them since they'd ran out of room. Those days were long gone…

And even with the birth of the new monkey, and even if Lellip and her new sibling produced more heirs… it'd not be long until their bloodline thinned to the point it became nonexistent in the first place. Lellip herself already showed signs of degradation. She was simply not as thick in the blood as her parents, and probably not even half as thick as Nebl was… or had been…

This place was simply a tell of the times. It wasn't just the Society that was deteriorating it was our people. The non-humans as a whole…

A metal crunching sound pulled my focus to the world around me. Glancing at the table, I found I had been holding the edge of the box still. I released it, and sighed at the metal edge of the box that now was rolled and crumpled.

"Darn it." Now I'll have to make a new box. This wasn't a simple wooden box but one of metal, as to properly contain the limestone flux within. It needed to be sealed air-tight.

Well, what was one more thing? Always was and always will be, so it didn't change anything did it?

Still I found myself annoyed. I shook my head and stepped away from the table as to turn and look around at the forge. The huge furnace, and the many smaller ones connected to it… were cold. Quiet.

Lonely.

Off in the distance I could hear voices. Lellip and her mother were talking not far from here, by the sounds of it they were walking back to the house. I wasn't sure what they had been doing, but I knew the new head of the family Drandle was out in the fields. He was a man who kept to himself, though I didn't fault him for it. He didn't agree with my, Nebl's, or most of the Society's methods. If not for the fact his wife and family belonged to the Society Drandle would undoubtedly had never joined. Although many found fault with that, I kind of respected it.

To not only have his own views and beliefs, but to be able to set them aside for his love and his family was… respectable. It was harder than people knew to do such things. Especially for non-humans. To put aside firmly held beliefs out of love and loyalty was difficult for them, in ways most people didn't understand. So although the man himself was not someone I really cared for, nor had Nebl, I couldn't help but praise him all the same.

"Too bad that's all there is to respect…" I mumbled.

Walking away from the furnaces I went to the front entrance. The door was slightly ajar, but not opened enough to just walk through, so I had to push it a bit before I could get out. Once outside I found Lellip heading my way, and her mother out of sight. She had likely gone inside the main house.

"Vim!" Lellip hurried over upon seeing me, smiling happily as she did.

"What's up?" I asked. I was a little glad for the distraction. I honestly wasn't sure what I had even been doing, to be honest. I was going to make a few things, and as such was going to heat the furnace up as to smelt, but I'd gotten distracted. I was distracted. My breaking that box earlier proved it, and the last thing I needed was for me to break the blast furnace with my wandering mind. Make a new metal box? Easy, can be done in an hour or two. But a whole new blast furnace…?

Little Lellip gave me a sad smile as she pointed at the house. "She's asleep," she said, now speaking softly… as if worried she could be heard.

She…? Oh. "Renn, you mean," I realized.

Lellip nodded a little happily. "She's snoring softly, even!" she added.

For a small moment I studied the young monkey, and wondered why she found such a thing so fascinating… but I knew why.

Renn was a predator. A real one. And although these monkeys were thick in the blood, and not as wimpy or cowardly as many others in the Society, that fact was still a big deal. Renn was… unique. And it wasn't hard to imagine why someone like Lellip, someone young who hasn't met many full-blooded predators, would find her so fascinating.

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"Well, you've been working her hard," I said simply. Renn has spent nearly every moment with the young monkey since our arrival. And that included when Lellip was doing her chores, or working around the farm or smithy. And Lellip, like her grandfather, worked hard and swift. Renn had the physical capabilities to keep up, but it seemed it had still tired her out if she's still asleep. It wasn't the afternoon yet, but it was late morning.

"Mom thinks she'll wake up once she starts making breakfast," Lellip said.

"Likely. She's a glutton," I said.

Lellip giggled at that. "Grandpa was too…! Must be a thing for you stronger types!" she said.

"For some, I suppose," I said as I crossed my arms and wondered if I should eat breakfast with them. I wasn't hungry, at all, but… sometimes something as simple as having a small meal with everyone was just as important as saving their lives. Especially after a great loss.

"You said you'd be staying here until the passes clear, right?" Lellip asked as she glanced to the western horizon. The distant peak was closer than it looked, and it was covered in white.

"Yes. She's a hardy creature, but we're not in a real rush nor do I want to risk it," I said. I had told her it was mainly so we didn't get seen as odd, since no human would try to cross it when it was so covered in snow, but in reality that was just a minor worry. My true concern was for her health. I was still not entirely sure what Renn was capable of, or at least capable of enduring. She was in no doubt thick in the blood, but that didn't always mean hardy and strong.

"Mom was worried about it, but isn't anymore. She likes Renn," Lellip said with a sad smile, one that made me realize that even though in a good mood… Lellip was still forlorn.

The reason was obvious. As obvious as the cold furnaces behind me. But I knew only time could cure such a thing. The only thing I, or anyone, could do for her… was to just be here. To not make her loss any worse.

Maybe Renn sticking around for a month or two was just what this family needed.

"I've been traveling with her for some time now. She's… odd in her own ways, but she's also very gentle. To the point it's actually weird, even to me," I said.

Lellip frowned up at me as she tilted her head. "Weird…? What do you mean?"

I uncrossed my arms as to gently gesture at her. "Usually older predators, ones thick in the blood, are blunt and gruff. People who, even when kind and morally even-natured, are still a little rude in their own ways. Renn's not. Her biggest problem is she's a tad too nice. A few of our members have been happy when we left, not because they had been worried or offended but simply because Renn was just a tad too much for them. She'll spend all day with you, nonstop, if you'll let her," I warned.

The young monkey gave me a wry smirk. "You mean those like dad, who like to be left alone," she knowingly understood.

I nodded. "If there's any predator trait actually left in her, it's the fact she seemingly clings onto people. But it's not because she's a cat, but instead because of the life she's led until now. I don't know her whole story, of course, but what I do know is she's been alone most of her life. And it's been a long one," I said.

"Hm… I'd not be bothered by that. It'd be like having a sister or something," she said.

"Then let her visit be your training session," I said.

Lellip laughed at that. "Right!"

"All the same, you need not worry. I'd not have brought her here otherwise. If anything I'd be more worried about your liking her too much."

"Too much…? Why? Then she'd just stay here, which I'd be fine with! We got plenty of room!"

I wasn't going to agree with that statement nor mention the fact that they now had even more room, since it hurt to admit. "If you want to keep her, go ahead," I simply said.

"Maybe I will! I'm going to go help mom with breakfast, and see if she actually wakes up at eat smell of it or not!" Lellip then said as she turned and ran off. She did so with a smile, but at the same time had a bit of a heavy step as she ran. Had my words offended her somehow? Maybe she had interpreted my words as an insult to Renn or something, as if I was saying I didn't think she belonged her…?

Of course I'd not think such a thing. If Renn did want to stay here, and the monkeys were happy with it, I'd be more than happy to leave her here as well. This place was safe, distant from humans and secluded. Plus it'd put her to use. Not only would she be able to help out around here, she'd be able to also protect them if something happened. What with Nebl gone they now were lacking someone with a spine…

I blinked as I realized this place was now defenseless. At least, within reason.

Drandle and Lellip were not weak. Even young Lellip, barely as tall as Renn, was stronger than any human. But strength wasn't everything. It was far from everything. If a group of humans, of any kind, attempted to they could easily overtake this place now… with him gone…

Watching the young monkey run into the house, disappearing from view, I sighed softly as my chest felt heavy.

"One death is always just the beginning, isn't it Nebl?" I whispered.

Maybe it was time I started to consider the end. Even though I'd been trying to avoid thinking about it, there was no denying its inevitability. The end was nearer than anyone likely knew, or at least was willing to admit. Maybe it was time I considered… consolidation. Maybe it was time I gathered the few remaining survivors, the ones capable and willing, and just set up a single location. One I could focus my whole time to, not just a few scattered days once every so many years. It'd cause friction, of course, but I'd be able to protect such individuals better. At least in the longer term…

But if I started that process… that meant I'd have to confront the reasons for the end which begun it.

And did I want to do that? Honestly…?

After all, look at this place here. These people. Nebl's family.

He was dead. Gone. Forever… and why? To save some humans? Some random miners?

And did anyone even try to save him? I'd not inquired too deeply into what had happened yet, out of fear of hearing their answers, but honestly I didn't need to. I already knew. It was obvious.

The mine had collapsed. Nebl got stuck inside it. The humans… and these monkeys, all gave up.

Abandoning him without a struggle.

They hadn't even sent for me. To alert me. Not a letter, or a cry for help… they had just…

A loud creak drew my attention to my left. I frowned as I watched the massive, heavy, re-enforced door to the smithy slowly open outward a bit more. Without being touched, or moved. The thing creaked on its hinges as it did, and I huffed at it. There was no wind. I had not bumped into it, nor had anything else. And it was so heavy, so well-built, that the idea of it just randomly moving was near impossible. It was so heavy that many people have complained about it throughout the years. But I didn't need to ponder for more than half a heartbeat to know why it had moved.

Sighing softly, I decided to join the monkeys for breakfast. At the very least it'd distract me from my own thoughts… since they had been treading far too close to dangerous territory.

My friend was dead.

And it felt like, and seemed, no one had really tried to save him.

I couldn't blame them. Shouldn't.

Yet I did.

And that made me a terrible protector… and an even worse friend.

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