With a roar of victory and vengeance, the cruel sun got back in the sky and began punishing everyone who laughed at its departure, putting a bit more focus on the especially more helpless beings beneath it, a pair of a man and woman being one of its unfortunate victims.
Unfortunately, It wasn't the harsh glare of the cruel sun that brought Kruxe back to the real world but rather the loud quacking and screaming around him.
Kruxe's eyes flickered open, and all it took was a single blink for them to shoot wide open and for a scream to leave his mouth as he kicked himself to his feet
"Ahhhhhh"
With this scream, the huge towering brown bird that had been descending towards Kruxe got startled and flapped its wing ascending back into the sky.
With the bird gone, Kruxe let out heavy breaths, his body beginning to come down from the sudden adrenaline it had been inflicted with immediately after it got back online.
In no time Kruxe turned to Cletina's body whose embrace he had just come out from, but before he could move towards her, he heard a loud screech in the air, and on looking he discovered the brown bird once more diving towards him.
Not wasting a moment, Kruxe kicked his feet into action as he ran over the platform, and in a few steps reached its edge and then without hesitation he jumped into the sea, barely escaping the huge claws of the bird.
From beneath the water, Kruxe watched the bird soar back into the sky but instead of leaving, it began to fly around the platform its sharp eyes observing the sea.
Realizing that getting rid of the bird wouldn't be so easy, Kruxe swam as fast as he could and got back onto the platform. Without delay, he made a dash for Cletina and hurriedly picked her up.
As fast as he could, Kruxe made a run for the edge of the platform, and then just as he felt a change in the wind, the bird making another dive for him, he once again jumped into the sea, tightly clutching Cletina as he swam beneath the platform, and away from the bird's sharp gaze.
There under the platform, Kruxe searched for a hold to steady himself and soon found one, and with it was able to easily keep himself and Cetina from sinking down to the sea.
His mouth tightly closed as he conserved the oxygen in him, Kruxe looked to Cletina, sadness filling his eyes when he noticed neither her eyes nor any part of her body move despite the rash movements he had put her through and the fact that he had just submerged them in water.
After escaping the bird the first time, Kruxe had feared for Cletina's safety and so swam back onto the platform.
While she had told him that the next time he woke up she would be dead, Kruxe firmly held on to the hope that she would still be alive, but now seeing her pale face remain unmoving his hopes crumbled.
Kruxe knew he should let go of her, but his pained heart just wouldn't agree, and so he stayed there underwater his eyes closed as he tightly held Cletina's dead body while crying tears which the sea never let him feel as it immediately washed them away
Minutes passed and Kruxe soon found himself needing oxygen, he looked at Cletina's lifeless body for a few seconds, respecting her and keeping his eyes from her barley-covered chest, and then with an internal sigh he let her go.
With a solemn gaze, Kruxe watched Cletina's pale white body sink, moving down to the sea, till it was swallowed by the darkness of the deep sea and he could see her no more.
His need for air urgent, Kruxe looked up and kicked his feet, moving to the edge of the platform, and then with caution he looked up from underneath it, looking through the barrier of water and observing the sky.
Seeing the sky, Kruxe's head cautiously surfaced from underneath the water and he took in much-needed air while also looking around one more time.
Still seeing no sign of the deadly brown bird, Kruxe pushed himself and climbed back onto the platform, moving to its middle and then falling onto his butt.
"Now everyone is dead and it's just me" Kruxe muttered, his eyes getting moist.
"Mom," Kruxe thought as his mind went back to the last time he had seen her.
With all his might Kruxe didn't want to believe that all the people he cared about were dead, and so far the only ray of light he could see in this hope of his was his mother.
Blaun, Rita, and Cletina, he had watched all of them die, but his mother was different.
Cletina had told him that she was dead, but he just could not believe her, Kruxe knew what he had seen.
Like this, Kruxe's mind descended into chaos as it went through all sorts of possibilities, but eventually, his thinking was ended by a loud cry from his tummy.
Like this Kruxe looked to the sky as he noticed the sun had begun its slow journey west.
Without fail, Kruxe knew he had woken up when the sun was at its peak, and from then till now, it would seem he had wasted precious mental energy on thoughts that wouldn't matter if he died.
Now he was hungry, but there was nothing he could do but stay on the platform and try to keep his mind clear while also looking out for any ship, island, or if he was lucky a baby fish he could catch and eat.
…..
Once again, the night came and it met a hungry Kruxe who could only pray that tonight's weather wasn't as bad as the previous night.
Though he didn't know much about geography, he knew that he was currently southeast of the central continent, where he stayed, and here the sea temperature was usually moderate at night with exceptions like last night.