~Chapter 4- Seperation~

         The sun pleasantly shone down on the Platt Mountain Range at dawn. Diva and Vos slept soundly in one of the stone homes the Densius had made for them. Diva had forgotten how kind they could be, nothing like the Densius of the Lands of Ranuulo.

         A duo was living on Platt Mountain. Their names were Wroth and Celic, and they called themselves Orephi. Slender bodied with elongated necks, dim eyes, and standing at 3 meters tall. 

         Wroth excitedly inquired, "I hear that you two are from the opposite side of this world, correct?"

         Diva nodded, "Yes! We were living in the Lands of Ranuulo for a long time."

         Wroth was absolutely giddy, "Marvelous! We were hoping to meet one like you. We had a few questions!"

         Wroth and his partner Celic began to bombard Diva and Vos with questions that they hardly understood. Asking about the nature of the flat world they lived on, how the laws of physics behaved on the opposite side of the world, and if they experienced any gravitational irregularities.

         They began answering, "I don't know," to every question asked.

         "Perhaps we're asking too technical of questions..." Celic said aloud. Diva could tell the Oreph were harmless. But they were incredibly annoying.

         She and Vos left them to go visit the brothers. They found them on a plateau of the mountain. Lucar was simply enjoying the pleasant weather of the day. Razan was making sweeping hand gestures at the Chihuahua Hopper. The massive dog was staring at him with its head cocked to the side.

         "What are you two doing?" Vos asked.

         Razan had a bucket filled with chunks of meat that he held in front of Hopper's snout, "I'm trying to teach my boy's dog some tricks."

         Diva chuckled, "Good luck!"

         Razan turned to them, "I'll have you know I'm great with animals!" Hopper managed to pick the chunk of meat away from Razan while he was distracted and gobbled it down.

         Lucar smiled, "How've you been enjoying things here?"

         Razan pulled out another chunk of meat and lowered it to the ground, prompting Hopper to lay down. When the dog appeared to be following instructions, he tossed the meat into its mouth.

         "Fantastic, the people here are great!" Vos exclaimed, "Did you stay here all these years?"

         Razan moved on top of a boulder, held meat up in the air, and told Hopper to sit while enticing him with meat. The dog looked up, but still didn't quite sit. He nudged the large dog into a sitting position, before tossing him another chunk of meat.

         "No, we've always been on the move. We were living in a cave in the Ichino Tundra until our boys removed the bounty on our heads," Lucar explained.

         "Your boys did that?" Diva asked.

          Razan made circles in the air with another piece of meat, trying to get Hopper to roll over. But the dog must've seen the bucket of meat hidden away. It hurried over to it and gobbled it up before Razan could stop him.

         Lucar nodded, "We didn't deserve it, but they helped us anyways. As far as I'm concerned, this is my happy ending. I'm finally free of our past mistakes, and none of us have to the see the Lands of Ranuulo ever again."

         Diva, Vos, and Lucar continued to watch Razan try to command Hopper, but the dog wasn't very obedient. But it did seem to like Razan very much.

         Valr, Aero, and Jirro found the four of them on the mountain. Aero asked, "Hey dad! would you be able to watch Hopper for a few months?"

         Razan turned to his son, "Umm, sure. Why? Are you going somewhere?"

         "To the Lands of Ranuulo."

         The four adults froze. It took a moment for them to process what they heard. Diva finally asked, "Why would you go there?"

         Valr began to chuckle, "These two nitwits want to go there as some form of training. I figure I can go there and try to get Petri and Donato's people to relocate here."

         Diva thought for a moment, it would be good if Petri and Donato's people came to the Lands of Ralosia. It'd be much safer. It'd be especially good for Donato; his people were suffering terribly last she heard.

         "That's a terrible idea. It's dangerous there," Lucar said flatly.

         "We aren't asking permission," Jirro pointedly replied.

         Diva spoke up, "I don't think it'll be that bad for them. Our boys are fairly strong as it is, and Valr grew up there."

         Vos stood and placed a hand on Valr's shoulder, "Well if you're going, make sure and stay around Petri's woods. No need to go south to the Tundra, and definitely stay away from the east. You don't want to run into the new king's militia."

         Valr cocked his head, "New king? What happened to Midan?"

         "Murdered. The new king is Zantii. Stay clear of him."

         Jirro asked, "The Lands of Ranuulo has a king?"

         Vos replied, "Technically there are several monarchs there. They never did away with monarchy like in the Lands of Ralosia. But Zantii holds the most authority."

         "You could take him in a fight, right dad?" Valr asked optimistically. The frown Vos gave him said 'no'.

         Razan asked, "What about Corri? Is she going with you?"

         "No, Corri said something about going to the Sky Lands," Aero crossed his arms, "She's been a real loner lately."

         Razan frowned. He had a worried look on his face, no doubt because of that argument he and Corri had before.

         Diva perked up when she heard Sky lands. She saw an opportunity there. She looked at Razan, "Are you worried about your little girl?"

         Razan nodded. "Of course I am."

         Diva smiled, "I have an idea then!"

---------------------------------------------------

         Diva floated through the air, traveling towards the part of the mountain where Corri was. The red-haired girl was packing her things while tending to her sparrow. Diva heard that these birds were particularly fast, much faster than a crow.

         Diva glided through the air, waving to Corri as she landed on a nearby rock, "I heard you were heading out for the sky soon."

         "Yeah, I have some errands up there," Corri said with a smile.

         Errands? She sounded so mature for a teenager.

         "Mind if I tag along?"

         Corri's eye's widened, "Really? You want to come?"

         "Yeah. When I was around your age, I had my own bird, a crow. I haven't seen her since before you were born. Maybe I'll be able to find her up there," Diva explained, "That, and I think it'll be fun, don't you think? Two women traveling through the skies together!"

         Corri paused and nodded, "Yeah, that does sound nice!"

         "Great! I'll be ready to leave whenever you are," Diva winked at Corri before flying away from her.

         Diva found Razan with the others. She came up behind him and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on your little girl."

         Razan looked back at her and gave a knowing nod.

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         Days passed and preparations were made. Valr, Jirro, and Aero gathered their things for their expedition into the Lands of Ranuulo, slinging bags of supplies on their backs. Corri and Diva prepared the sparrow Rojo for their trip to the Sky Lands.

         Aero scratched Hopper's head and whispered into his long-pointed ears, "Dad will take good care of you until I get back. Once I do, I'll be so strong no one will ever be able to hurt you again."

         The dog nuzzled its head against Aero as he spoke.

         While Corri was packing, Aero approached her, "Dad wanted me to tell you to be safe, and that he'll miss you." Aero recited, just as Razan told him to.

         Corri raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay."

         "Do you want me to tell him anything for you?"

         "No," Corri replied without hesitation.

         Aero nodded, expecting that sort of response, "I'll miss you!"

         Corri turned to him and gave him a big hug, "I'll miss you too!"

         Farewells were given between everyone, all except between Corri and her father Razan. The parents told their children to be safe, and the children assured them they would. Corri and Diva mounted Rojo, and the red sparrow took to the skies at great speed. The three sixteen-year-old boys headed south towards the great desert. Razan, Lucar, and Vos remained among the Densius people on Platt Mountain, intent on not stirring up any trouble.