Elemental Cats

Toz began by introducing himself and the cats. The woman was surprised when Lucy said hello from the shelf he was lying on since she hadn't noticed him before. But after Toz started talking, she understood that he didn't have any bad intentions, for now at least, so she was surprised but not scared.

The woman's voice was hoarse and weak after having been out of use for so long and because she was still recovering from starvation and dehydration. She introduced herself as Joan and her still unconscious son as Joshua.

Toz told her about the island of trees they were on and how he and the cats saved Joan and her son after discovering the boat drifting through the Void. Joan almost burst into tears again as she thanked Toz.

"Do you need some more rest?" Although Joan had woken up, she was still weak and recovering, so after letting her know about their current situation, Toz felt like she might need to rest and recuperate some more before he started asking her about what sent her into the Void.

Joan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes as she answered,

"No need. I have slept enough for now." Joan could tell that Toz was lingering and hesitating about what to say because he was interested in hearing about her situation but didn't want to be too impolite.

"How about I tell you our story in exchange for saving our lives?"

"If you don't mind." Toz had a feeling he had been seen through, but he accepted Joan's offer with a smile.

"Both me and my husband come from a small town with a population of fewer than a thousand people. Childhood sweethearts. Loved each other. Got married. Had Joshua. He got his name from mixing Joan and his father's Tasha. An ordinary story. But I would have loved to spend the rest of my life enchanting fabric, raising Joshua, and loving Tasha.

"But our town was struck by the first wave of attacks in the war. My family and I had been out of town for a vacation, so we survived, but our families didn't, and we were forced to flee. But beasts rampaged everywhere we went. The few cities and towns we found were nothing more than ruins.

"Tasha worked as a guard, so he was used to fighting and managed to protect us until we found a safe place.

"However, like every refuge we found, it was only temporary. This time the entire plane was about to collapse. In order to save as many as possible, the kingdom sent a few void ships to help us.

"But there is no way they would send enough ships to save everyone from an entire plane when the flames of war are spreading all over. After noblemen and the ones with heavy purses got on, there wasn't any room for everyone else.

"In the middle of the chaos and mutiny, my husband said he had found a solution and came back with the boat and a few bags of food. He planned to hitch a ride by tying the boat to the ship before they left. And it worked. We managed to leave the plane before it crumbled. Several other families did the same as us, but tens of thousands of people were left to die because the admiral didn't want to help anyone.

"However, after we were in the Void, despite us not burdening the ships, they began cutting the ropes tying us to the ship. My husband tried to stop it, but he got blown away by a mage on the ship.

"I tried to hold on to him! But it all happened so quickly." This time, Joan couldn't hold back her tears and began sobbing as she continued caressing Joshua's light brown hair with an empty gaze.

"Sorry." Both for her loss and for making her relieve her experiences. Toz and the cats left the house without disturbing Joan since she needed some peace and quiet to process what she had been through.

A few hours later, Joan fell asleep again. Toz used the opportunity to refill the bowl of void meat.

Toz was there again the next time Joan woke up. While she looked slightly healthier physically speaking, Toz could see she was in emotional pain. However, even if they didn't talk about her feelings, Toz felt it would be better for her if she wasn't alone with only her sleeping kid.

Although he wasn't sure he should ask about it, considering Joan's state of mind, it didn't look like she would mind talking about it.

"What war?" Ever since he had first heard about it, Toz had been worried. From what Joan said, it sounded like planes being destroyed in the war was a common occurrence. But Toz would have at least heard rumors about a war on that scale.

Joan looked at Toz with a confused expression before answering,

"The realm war between our human realm and the demon realm."

"Hmm. When did it begin?"

"Maybe a year or so ago? Wait! Have you been here for so long that you didn't even know about the war?"

"I'm pretty sure I ended up in the Void due to an attack by the demons. Have you heard of what happened at Treblor Forest?" Toz knew it was a long shot asking about Treblor since he hadn't known about it before he researched interesting places in Firebelt Kingdom.

"You were there!? I didn't think there were survivors of any of the demon lords' appearances. But wait, that means you are from the Firebelt Kingdom?"

Toz was a little confused about the mention of demon lords, but he felt reasonable that an entity capable of shattering Roaring Skies and Treblor was called a demon lord. Still, the talk of war had him slightly absentminded as he replied to Joan.

"Yeah.

"...Wait, where are you from?"

"I could be considered a resident of Starsling Kingdom." Joan frowned when she said the name. With how the kingdom's soldiers and men had acted when on a rescue mission and how they had even killed her husband, it was understandable that Joan didn't think fondly of the kingdom.