SSS-Ranked Evolution: Worlds Unbound-Chapter 43: Rebuilding The Lost Land.

"The Great Warrior has returned! He has returned!"

Shouts filled the entire camp, loud enough to wake Reina from her emergency nap. She squeezed her eyes open to the merriment and with a simple robe around her body, she exited her chambers, walking down the passageway only to see her people lifting Ren a couple of feet into the air, singing praises only meant to be sung to heroes.

Reina couldn’t believe her eyes so she rubbed the sleep out of them to make sure she was seeing who she was seeing. He had such a proud smile on his face and when he finally reached the ground, his eyes connected to hers. Like the time slowed, he waved to her, making his way over but was quickly cut short when she ran to him in a hurry, slamming her body against his.

"You are alive! Oh thank the heavens!" The force had knocked the wind out of his lungs, but she didn’t let go of his neck regardless, she was so happy to see him. So happy to hold him again.

"Oh come on, did everyone really think I wouldn’t make it? You don’t have faith in your Great Warrior?" his ego inflated by the second and all she could do was press a kiss against his lips.

"Tonight we celebrate!" Rami called for applause and the rest of the tiger beasts followed. It felt like home, he had made a new home. He would do anything for the beasts. Anything.

Hours had passed, and the merriment was just getting started. Everyone was drinking, eating and dancing, Rami was the one heading it all, and she was having a lot of fun while Ren was in his chambers, getting dressed after a bath. A new presence entered and without looking at who it was, he already knew, "my queen, what can I do for you?" The grin had not been able to fall from his face and he was enjoying the attention more than ever.

But let us be real. Who wouldn’t enjoy the attention of beautiful powerful women and not the ugly creatures he had to face in the corrupted land?

"I came to give you a drink." her words stole his attention, turning to her, he met her jaded eyes and powerful being with two chalices. Both filled with wine. Ren’s eyes flickered with interest, crossing the distance between them and taking one of the cups from her hand, taking a sip from it, without breaking eye contact, "I owe you so much Ren."

"Do friends really owe each other?" his hands reached out to her face, stroking her cheek gently, he could see the stress on her features. Overworked, barely rested, disturbed, "you have suffered enough because of my kind. You and your people desire better."

"You did not have to. From that day we met in the forest, you did not have to yoke yourself with me. But you did." she pressed herself into him, and knowing Ren, he didn’t pull away from her.

"It would have gone against everything I was taught. Your land is restored, it would need some rebuilding, but it is safe to go back now." a warm smile spread across her face, a consequence of his words, "it would take us a few days to reach there but the sooner we leave, the better." taking another sip out of the cup, he really liked what he was consuming. Grape wine, his mother too used to make some on special occasions.

Rami had told everyone that they would be going back to their land in a few days, and it had caused an uproar. Everyone was happy, celebrating, while Ren spent slower moments with Reina, talking about the things they would need to do when they got there. And as for Luna, she was getting all the food she could have ever asked for.

The night was long and just before dawn, everyone had set out to move. Rami barely got any sleep, she was busy organizing the move and Ren admired her from afar. But questions burned deep in his mind, the most prominent one being the source of the corruption. Surely darkness couldn’t just spring out of nowhere and cause havoc? Or could it be the effect of something that had happened in the past? As they travelled, Ren relaxed deeper into his head, trying to figure out how it all started.

Whatever he asked of Reina were things she had told him before. There was order in the natural world, then out of a sudden, darkness loomed and turned everything upside down. It grew stronger and corrupted the beast queens, after one of their sisters disappeared. The beasts were left vulnerable, without the guidance of their queen, it was easier for them to be exploited. Leaving many of them extinct.

Ren had seen the effect of the corruption on the beasts first hand. And even on humans, after Von was corrupted. It took over their consciousness and changed their forms to horrid creatures. But there was a way to combat it, purification power. He had it, he could use it. Question is, was it only given to beast tamers? Or could other awakened high ranking classes also have it? Could mages have it? How would he ever know when the vast majority of awakened youths are taken by the empire and bred into fighting machines?

Each time the questions got louder, he closed his eyes to sleep. Days and nights went by, they had passed Eblan and even Karnak. As much as Ren wanted to say hello to his friend, he was carrying a crowd with him, and he didn’t want to scare the remaining people of Karnak with an army of beasts. Soon they reached the land and upon getting there, some fresh grass had begun to bloom. The clouds were darkened with heaviness and it was raining.

Setting her eyes on everything, the queen felt so much sadness in her bones. The smell of death and loss was on everything but at the same time, the fresh smell of hope in the new set of vegetation was what was going to push them forward.

"Everyone lend me your ears! Break down all the worn out structures, clear overgrown bushes and anything that doesn’t look normal and moves, don’t touch it. I repeat, don’t touch it! We have a lot of work to do!" Rami rallied her people and soon, they began to work, breaking down old things that they had built so they could erect new ones.

"Is my palace still standing?" pained amusement, that was what she felt. Flashbacks hit Ren like a brick hurled at someone’s head. He watched that palace burn, and with a friend in it. He could never get over it, sometimes he would still hear Dalia telling him to run, to restore her people. Sometimes he imagined what the reunion would have been like if she were still alive.

Reina’s memory didn’t betray her, she still knew where her palace was and upon seeing it, her heart fell to her feet. She was beyond heartbroken, "what...happened?" There were tears in her eyes, but she pushed forward, entering the burnt remains of glory. Everything was either ash or covered in ash. Broken windows and pieces of wood, molten metals that had joined together to form absurd shapes. Ren followed her, to see the last of the burn site.

"It...it was the only way to free the land... the throne was the host, we burnt it, and everything came crashing down." he explained.

"We?" Reina asked for clarification, not being able to take her eyes off her throne. She could see the bodies, rotten, burnt, some completely ash. Like the creatures had tried to save the throne but died doing so.

"Yes. We. One of us didn’t make it..." he swallowed a lump in his throat, he wondered if she had remains, she deserved a fitting burial. She was a warrior.

"Who were they?" the music of the rain in the background, accompanied by the destruction that was going on outside.

"One of yours. She gave her life so we could escape with ours. Dalia." a pained smile marked his face as the name slipped from his lips. Ren’s eyes shifted to Reina who was frozen in pain. She didn’t say a word, but Ren had a feeling Reina was close to the late tigress. They spent some time looking for her remains, and they were able to find half of her body, burnt to the crisp, the other half broken off and turned to ash.

It was hard for them to hold what remained of her, but she deserved a better exit than this.

For days, the beast worked on restoring their land to its glory. Rami worked without rest, making sure everything was going well and also ensuring that Reina was comfortable where she was staying. And as long as Ren was with them, they were doing pretty well. They had buried Dalia in their grave site, it was meant for the best of warriors and for the queens that were before Reina. She earned that spot with her sacrifice.

It was easy for two weeks to pass and everything was looking better now. The overall wellbeing of the beasts had improved now that their land was looking like what it used to be.

"Rami never stops until her agenda is complete. She barely sleeps, barely eats, I hope she doesn’t fall sick." Ren was taking a walk with Reina, admiring the hard work her people had done. They had placed more structures, so people had roofs over their heads. Simple mud houses that held firm before they went to bigger things. What used to be the centre of the town had been beautified with ornamental shrubs. With the new discovery of limestone in the area, the beasts would make stronger structures. Currently, they were working on the palace which would restore their queen back to her rightful place.

On the throne.

Before Reina had invited Ren on the walk, he was teaching Luna some new tricks. They were not the usual roll over and sit but new ways on how to electrocute people. His latest discovery was her ability to shoot lightning from her mouth that he would utilize so well. As for Nagini, she was on daily scouts to make sure they were safe, alongside some other tigers.

"I can talk to her if you let me." with the devious smile on his face, he knew he was going to do just more than talking if he were to catch her alone. And knowing that look, Reina could only roll her eyes.

"You have to attend to me first." a mocking laugh escaped her lips, forcing Ren’s cheeks to grow pink. Of course, he had been so busy he had forgotten to satisfy his queen. Just thinking about it, he felt a twitch in his pants.

"Well since that is the problem, I could offer a solution to—" he was cut short when he heard a whistle in the wind, moving fast enough, he caught a ninja star before it implanted itself into his forehead, ending him. Looking at it, he could let out a small laugh, but the incident had angered Reina. To her, someone was trying to kill her consort.

But to Ren, an old friend was saying hi.

"Go get him girl." Ren hyped Luna, knowing she could smell him, immediately she sprinted and went to find where the assassin was hiding.

"What was that?" Reina turned to him for an explanation, but he could only smile at her.

"One of my friends, I can’t wait for you to meet him." offering his hand, they continued their walk. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"But he just tried to kill you. Why should I spare him?" The conversation went on with Ren rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"No Reina, it’s a boy thing. It’s how we greet each other." he tried calming her down and explaining, but he wasn’t getting far.

"By trying to kill you?" The disbelief in her voice forced a laugh out of him, her arms still locked with his, but she refused to spare him another glance.

"He wasn’t really trying to kill me." yeah Ren, sure he wasn’t.

Some time had passed and Ren was in his hut with Reina, they were going over some things while having food till their alone time was interrupted with a loud bark. Turning their heads to see what was going on, Luna was dragging Von by the leg and resistance was futile.

"And look who the wolf dragged in?" the snarkiest response from a friend he hadn’t seen in weeks.

"Friend."