Many things had happened over these two weeks for Blanc and the rest.
There were only a few constants in his life in the cave.
First was that after the sixth day, Kael and Lune got restless to no end.
Anything that was a pain to do or that they did not feel like doing came with complaints from them.
Be it training, aiding with cooking, or cleaning, made them complain like children.
Which they were.
Yet it was unexpected to all the adults, including Blanc, who forgot the last time they complained about everything.
Yet, both he and Celine knew the reason for their restlessness. It cursed Blanc's heart as well. Even though he chose not to show it.
The smoke they saw that day made all three of them realize that the comfort they were feeling, here, deep in the woods, was all thanks to the people fighting the war happening below, outside the forest. Their family.
Unbeknownst to all, during the night. When everyone was asleep, Blanc would get dressed and walk in the darkness to look upon the battlefield from the mountain.
He did not see the battle roaring in the distance. He did not hear the steel chashing or the terrified screams of the wounded. He was too far for that.
For an hour, each night, he stood there. In silence. Watching the smoke still rising, even a week later.
He prayed to the Vita. For his family's safety, if not for anything else. No reaches, no land. Just his family.
The rest could be regained. But his family… well, that would not.
Secondly, he needed to get stronger.
A constant he kept up with whenever he got the opportunity to.
During these two weeks, he made sure to hunt and harvest any animal that crossed his path.
In the first five days, he caught another eight rabbits, which he all harvested and made the blanket for the twins from.
His Mark was now gray. Yet it showed no signs of becoming black soon.
The rabbit mark surely did not make him stronger.
But, besides the funny-looking mark in the funny-looking place, it was useful.
Useful during the night, with Celine, as it offered him stamina to no end, with each rabbit added, making him resist longer and longer, to the point Celine would be the one to tap out first.
And that stamina was not only useful during the night. It was useful for everything, really. Running, fighting, and all in between.
On the ninth day, after three days of no encounters, on the day he helped Miyaana with foraging, he caught two beasts.
Another rabbit, the eleventh added on the Mark, which finally changed it from a lighter shade of gray to a darker one.
And a badger, which, after harvesting it, left the outline of its paw on the back of his neck.
The new Mark made him feel as if his skin had become thicker. More warmer.
And he felt his strength surging by a lot, surprisingly so, thinking about how small the beast was.
Yet he welcomed it with pleasure, as, after these two, his luck with beasts became nonexistent, as he did not manage to find or kill another.
Still, they did not lack food. He foraged daily.
And the amount of fish Kael caught, and the rabbit he killed, were enough to keep meat on the menu.
As luck would have it, this was the only thing that kept them from complaining further.
Yet, for Blanc, this was not enough. He wanted… no. He needed to get stronger. To be stronger. Not just physically. Mentally too.
He knew no good things would follow if his mind kept whispering in his ears.
The third constant was that NOTHING made sense anymore.
Yesterday, on the thirteenth day of their stay in the cave, Kael and Lune ran away in the early morning before they were trained by Celine.
And he did not find out until Celine brought them back wet from head to toe.
He argued, even yelled at them. Why? Why would you risk such a thing? Have they forgotten the wolves? Have they forgotten the enemy below? And the reason they were sent into the woods in the first place?
They kept silent for most of it. Until the end, even. Until both said a simple thing, 'We were bored'. That's it.
That's everything they said.
Blanc was left speechless, but his patience now ran thin because of everything that kept piling up.
But Celine, in all her grace, came up with the idea of taking them out to the river today to play and deepen their relationship. A good idea. One that would take their mind off things. And allow himself to calm down.
Yet he could not. There was another headache present. Miyanna.
On the ninth day, after returning from harvesting the Raw Vita of the badger, Celine was there, next to Miyanna.
They were talking until they noticed him returning to normal after he finished the harvest.
Celine sent Blanc back to the cave with what they gathered, saying that she, too, wanted to show Miyanna around and give her some foraging tips.
He did not see an issue with that, but when they returned, something was off.
They brought nothing and remained silent.
Even during dinner, nothing was said by the two.
Even at night, after Blanc and Celine had finished enjoying themselves, Celine refused to tell him what they had talked about or what had happened between the two.
After that day, Miyanna did not talk to Blanc, nor did Blanc with her.
But he kept seeing her and saw her staring at him. She kept her distance, and he did not understand why nor cared enough to push for an answer.
Yet it annoyed him all the same.
Even now, both of them were at the table, doing nothing.
Both were lost in thought.
She always seemed as if ready to talk to him, her mouth opening and closing, yet she did not say a single word.
He was not in the right mental state.
He felt that the tears from two weeks ago were only a prelude to what was about to follow now.
His thoughts were chaotic like no other.
His family, the war, Kael, Lune, Celine, and Miyanna, his lack of strength, his guesses as to what their future held, how long this will continue, and how everything will play out.
One more thing. One more thing, and he knows he will go mad.
He felt sick to his stomach if he did not push the thoughts away.
He wanted the night to come already. To have Celine next to him. To hear her voice as she talked.
The only things that managed to cover the thoughts running like a waterfall in his mind.
He could not wait for them to come home.
As he prayed for such a thing to happen, Kael rushed through the door with a wide smile on his face.
"Blanc! Blanc! Celine has a surprise for you!"
"Welcome back," he said, getting to his feet, "what surprise?"
As he asked that question, Celine, holding Lune's hand, entered the cave.
"My love?" asked Blanc.
"I, uh…" stuttered Celine, an awkward smile on her beautiful face, not finding her words.
Yet as she began finding them, tears left her eyes as well. "I think I might be pregnant."
Huh?