Chương 68: An unfamiliar feeling

The time passed with smiles and laughter as Blick spent his days walking around the village with Beth riding on his shoulders. The girl had been feeling her best lately due to Blick giving her daily mana infusions nearly resetting all the damage her illness had caused. He was consistently reminded that his help wouldn't permanently save her. It would give her years more to live for sure, but she would eventually succumb to the sickness that took her parents. He was happy to see her play like the other children.

The men and women of the village discreetly thanked him when she wasn't around or was distracted. Nobody seemed to want the girl to understand her fate. The idea made Blick both happy and sad. It was a strange feeling having sorrow for a loss that he would likely never see. Beth called him a teddy bear several times and Blick decided to make her one before he left the girl for more adventures. He sourced the string from a small shop in the village.

Clarance helped him shear one of the goats that had a similar color to his own. He found and polished two black stones for the eyes. The small leather pouch on his side was a task to recreate in miniature, but time and effort wielded great results. The project took almost a week and was finished nearly too late entirely. The day he finished the small version of himself, Blick carried it into the village. He was riding on high spirits, happy with the time spent on a task that would bring nothing but happiness.

When he crossed the rocky curve in the path leading to the village he could see several people gathering near a building he hadn't ever needed to enter. His curiosity lead him to the gathering where he was received with sad reactions without words.

"What is happening?" He asked one of the familiar women who was clearly holding back tears.

"Oh Blick… you should go in. They will likely need your help with Beth." She responded touching his arm with a soft grip. He nodded and pushed his way through the crowd. Blick was not prepared for the scene he stumbled upon. There were three men around a table that held a body he couldn't make out. In the back of the building he could hear crying from more than one person… but only one sounded like the cries of a child. When Blick made his way into the room one of the men noticed him.

"Come on over we could use your strength." Blick approached cautious. On the table the three men had been attempting to correct the position of the old man's head. One had a damp red cloth another had been straightening the old man's left arm to lay at his side.

"After putting Beth to bed, he stumbled down a set of steps. It's not surprising in his old age. It's just unfortunate nobody was around to notice." One of the men explained as Blick took in the situation. Then he made sure Blick was making eye contact with him before finishing.

"The girl found him at the bottom of the stairs Blick. She needs you. But first." He paused looking back at the body on the table.

"Can you help me straighten his neck. We can't have a proper funeral with him looking like this." The man was clearly holding back tears as he positioned the old man's body in a natural way. Blick stepped over and helped. He had seen and dealt with death plenty in his short life. What he hadn't done was prepare someone he knew for a funeral where people he was growing attached to would be broken. The three men and Blick prepared the body and lifted it gently into a nearby box set aside for this very task.

He helped them carry the box out into the street passing the onlookers who had mixed facial expressions ranging from disappointment to outright broken sorrow. Walking through the crowd Blick studied the faces and absorbed the reality of what this one man's death meant for the village. It was sudden, unplanned, and he was well liked. The process didn't take long as the group was just placing the casket in the cool cave.

They would head back and prepare themselves and their families for the funeral service that afternoon, giving everyone time to adjust their schedules and notify the villagers outside the main stretch of road. The village was abuzz with activity as young men sprinted out with messages to other houses and the older women helped everyone clean themselves off carrying around buckets of water and washing every face they came to. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent.

Report it. Blick was lead back to the building and into a back room where two women were attempting to help Beth. The young girl was half dressed in her nightgown as the women attempted to convince her to help them get her a better dress on.

"Little Miss I know it's hard, but you want to present your best for his send off." She noticed blick come into the room and nodded.

"Good good, come here son. She needs to dress but she won't let us. She won't even say a word, such a sad state we found them in." Blick didn't respond he just walked over to Beth and picked her up. He carried her out of the village despite the bewildered looks among the ladies. Nobody tried to stop him as Beth cried into his fur curling into a ball in his arms. Blick carried her into the barn that he called home for the last several weeks.

He climbed into his hammock with the young human and stuck one furry foot out to push off the nearby wall. They lay in the hammock just rocking. Alone and quiet. The sound of tiny sobs echoing into the barn. He didn't know how to describe the hurt he had for Beth. It wasn't his loss. It wasn't even his pain. But she hurt so bad that she couldn't hold it in. And for some reason that made Blick hurt. He reached into his pouch and handed her the small teddy bear.

She froze for just a second before grabbing and squeezing it before cuddling back into herself in his arms. She didn't say a word and somehow Blick was ok with that unfamiliar feeling also. His large black eyes began to water as he began to hum a tune that he had heard the old man hum days ago. It wasn't beautiful. It probably wasn't even accurate. But it was enough as the little girl slowly got quiet in his arms. Chris and Clarance came into the barn quietly.

Blick looked over and they nodded before the older man said.

"It's time Blick. We need to bring her to say her goodbyes." The grok had no real concept of funeral, but he could see the process in action and did the calculation. They would prepare the fallen, gather for a farewell, then place him in a hole in the cave. There was probably some meaning to the ordeal, but Blick was too tired and sad to ask. What he knew he needed to ask was.

"Hey Beth? I know it hurts. But we need to go say goodbye. Can you help me. I don't know the words to use." She didn't speak. He felt her little head nod in his arms, so he lifted them out of the hammock and began the walk back to the village. They stood at the entrance to the cave. The entire village lined a path. Men on one side, women on the other. Blick followed Clarance to the end of the line and he waved Blick to continue.

"Family first, help her say what she needs son." With sad eyes he and his son stand and watch as the grey, bear shaped young man walks down the path of sorrow with a small girl clinging to his fur. He watches as Beth looks from face to face, her eyes bloodshot and cheeks wet. Her little hair ties are all matted up and her nightgown is still on. She has small bags under her eyes as she looks up into his eyes for comfort and he responds with a small pat on her little head. Inside the cave is cool and quiet.

The people lining the walls are the closest friends to the fallen villager and thus look the worst. The duo come to the end of the line as Beth trembles in Blicks soft grip and he lowers himself to help her stand beside the box on the floor. She walks on unsteady legs squeezing her teddy bear in both arms to her chest. The little girl trembles and whimpers as she leans over the casket and says a broken "goodbye". A "thank you". And several "I'll miss you"s.

Then she turned to walk back to Blick before freezing when she sees him crouched down on one knee waiting patiently for her. She looks back at the last of her family, then back at Blick, before finally looking down at the teddy bear. Then she spins around and runs back to the casket. Blick stands in worry and a few of the adults shift not knowing what the opportunity girl was about to do. She leans over the edge of the casket and tucks the teddy bear in next to her loved one and says.

"He will keep you safe, like you kept me safe." Then she turned and walked with a strength Blick hadn't seen her ever wield. She grabbed his paw and walked hand in hand with him back out. Tears rolled down both of their faces as Blick battled the feeling of sorrow he had never really had to feel. And the little girl accepted the world was going to keep moving even if it hurt.