TLoS: The Journey Home Ch. 09/2

Chapter 09: Forgotten
Part 2
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/Transitioning…/
[Done]

Jericho sat softly, looking out over the hole in the aircraft’s hull. His rifle rested in his lap, ready to engage any targets that he might have seen. It had been pretty quiet since the others had gone off to rest. Some of the seats remained where they had been left on the aircraft, making for some nice temporary beds. Well, as nice as they could be since most of them were rotten from the cold jungle atmosphere.

The rain had continued to fall steadily since they arrived, changing at times from harder downpours to lighter showers. Looking out, Jericho wondered how a jungle could adapt and survive in such a cold harsh environment. Well, it wouldn’t have been the craziest thing he had seen. In his travels, he had come across some very… unique locations.

He heard one of the seats near him shift, causing him to turn to see who it was. He saw Cynder getting up, walking over near him. She didn’t say anything to him, only looking as if she was going to fly out of the aircraft.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Jericho said, rubbing his hands together.

“If I had wanted your advice, I’d ask for it.” She responded coldly.

“Just saying, it’s not exactly the most hospitable place out there.”

Cynder didn’t respond, only opening her wings to fly off into the night. Jericho just sat back in his seat, putting a foot up against the hull of the craft. She was gone a few minutes before returning, turning her head every so often to look behind her.

“See something?” Jericho asked.

“Something about this place… it isn’t right.”

“I’ve been getting that feeling myself. I don’t like this place.”

“I couldn’t sleep, I keep feeling like something is gnawing at my mind…” Cynder said, turning around, shaking her head.

“It’s just like the mall.” Jericho said, remembering he had something similar happen back in the underground mall.

“No, it’s different here. It feels more… aggressive. I can’t put my talon on it.” She said, turning to face the jungle again.

“I thought you Sentinels were supposed to be the kings of that sort of thing.” Jericho remarked, half in a joking manner, half… in an accusing manner.

“Very funny. We’re not evil like everyone thinks. I could accuse you of the very same thing.” She said, looking him up and down.

“Lady, I don’t spit purple fire from my mouth. I think I’m clean.” Jericho said, shrugging it off.

“Hardly.” She simply responded.

“Well since you are the… professional on a place like this, I don’t suppose you know anything else about this place?” Jericho asked, turning to her with a slightly smug look. She just held a cold, solemn look as she looked out over the forest.

“Just that places like these are forbidden, forgotten. People don’t come through here since it’s so dangerous. I’m starting to see why. The land here is so unpredictable, and there is little way to navigate it with any maps.”

“Only thing I can say about this place is…” Jericho squinted at a map he held in his hands, trying to look at it in the dim light he had. “Well I can’t tell where we are really, just somewhere northeast of Charlotte. Very northeast.”

“Is that a map?” Cynder asked, looking at the paper Jericho held.

“Perhaps.” He said, almost sarcastically. Cynder just frowned at him.

“Is it, or isn’t it? I’d like to see so I know where we’re going.” She said coldly. Jericho just tossed the map at her dismissively. She gave him a scowl as she set the paper on the floor, opening it up to look. She used a gemstone on a collar she wore. It was much, much smaller than the one Spyro had attached to his neck, and it was what tipped Jericho off to her allegiance to the Sentinels. All Sentinels wore a brace like that, and hers denoted her as a simple recruit. It gave off a low light, illuminating the map just enough to read.

“There aren’t many landmarks here… and we’re still well within the wasteland. We’d be better off heading east, trying to hit one of the railway or roadways on the way to Richmond. Richmond’s a major trading center… we might be able to get help there.”

“So we’ll head east. It’ll be hard to make it with little visual reference… We are just guessing at this point.”

“There are all sorts of underground outposts along the way, if we can find them we can get help there.”

“If you’re going from Over Rail, we weren’t. There’s no telling where this line’s taken us.” Jericho said, crossing his arms.

Cynder just sighed, not wanting to admit he was right. They were completely lost, with no way to orient themselves on any type of map.

A soft howl reverberated through the jungle, similar to the one they had heard on the way in. Jericho grabbed his weapon, sitting up more as he scanned the area below more carefully.

“You heard it too…?” Cynder asked, looking around.

“Yeah… I’ve heard it a few times off and on… I don’t like it.” Jericho said.

“Don’t think it’s of any danger right now…” Cynder commented, the howl having come from a long distance away.

“Still, I don’t trust this place one bit.” Jericho said, not letting his guard down one bit. His eyes darted across the landscape, spotting a sign in the distance hanging over what probably was a road at one point. The paint had long been chipped away, denying any navigational data the sign might have lent them.

Jericho sighed.

“Really wish that sign wasn’t decayed. Really wish we could find out where the hell we are…” Jericho said, referring to the sign.

“For once I agree with you.” Cynder simply said.


/Transitioning…/
[Done]

Soft whispers, there were those soft whispers again.

He could hear them all around him… in his head even. Was he awake, asleep? Was he imagining them? He tried to focus… focus on them all, but it was too hard.

Where was he?

What was he?

Spyro tried to focus hard, opening his eyes. He found himself on the seats again, but… they were drastically different. They weren’t the rotten, old seats he had fallen asleep on, they were instead a set of pristine, freshly upholstered seats with intricate colors ranging from whites to blues. Looking up, he saw that the plane was also no longer wedged between the trees, but somewhere else. Outside the window he could see sky… sky and clouds ranging as far as the eye could see. Was… was it flying?

Looking around more, he could see the lights inside the plane were on, and there were people, people everywhere. His row of seats were one of the only rows that lacked people, and their voices and laughter filled the air. He could hear a soft whirring sound coming from outside, similar to the sounds of the engines on Jericho’s Osprey when they were running.

Spyro got up softly, walking through the middle of the cabin. Nobody seemed to notice him as he looked at all the humans inside the craft.

It had to be another memory…

Spyro turned, fishing into his pack to find the shard. The shard was glowing a bright white, only confirming Spyro’s thoughts. He set the crystal back, walking around to view the different humans.

The plane was packed, and the atmosphere a little solemn. While there was conversation within the aircraft, it wasn’t prevalent. Sad faces dotted the aircraft, and all the humans were huddled up in winter clothing. It was a scene similar to the mall in the second scene. Looking outside again he could see that it might be winter, since the clouds were a dark grey and he could feel a bitter cold coming from the windows as he drew near.

Where were these humans going? Was this around the same time as the memory in the mall? Were they escaping from something as well?

Conversations ahead of him caught his attention, coming from the front of the aircraft. Walking in that direction, Spyro could see an open door leading to the very front, the cockpit as Jericho had called it. A human walked into the door, closing it.

Spyro walked up to the closed door, frowning. A few moments later the door opened, and the human left the cockpit. The human female walked to the rear of the plane for something, and Spyro took the chance to enter.

There were two humans sitting in the cockpit, one on either side. They sat at the controls, and were probably flying the craft. Spyro took a moment to take in all the controls, comparing them to what he remembered on the Osprey, watching as the pilots flicked at different nobs and switches, wondering just what each of them might have done.

“That makes… what, 15 flights today?” One human asked.

“I’ve lost count, might be 20 for all I know.” The other responded, whipping his eyes a bit.

“Man, it’s crazy, I can’t believe what’s happening.”

“I know, I saw some of the reporting last night. They stopped showing footage of Colorado yesterday, do you know anything happening over there?”

“No, just what they showed before it was cut off. I think the Government is trying to hide it all.”

“Hide it? I think it’s a little too late for that. We all saw the coverage of Salt Lake City when it was butchered. Now they have this evacuation going on.”

“I’m just glad we’re here in the east shuttling people from evac centers to Charlotte. I’m hearing horror stories from pilots out west ferrying survivors out of hot zones.”

“Like what?”

“You haven’t heard them? I saw Richard the other day, he was one of them. He was telling me that the entire airport was on fire, and he was one of the last planes to leave, people just running all over the tarmac in fear. Jesus, I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“Hold on, we’re coming in on Charlotte now, let’s contact the tower.”

“Right.” The pilot sitting in the right seat leaned over, flipping a few switches before talking into the microphone on his head.

“Charlotte tower this is Kilo 1-7, requesting permission to land, over.”

Spyro took this chance to take a look out their windows, seeing that they weren’t the only aircraft in the air that day. He could see faint objects in the distance, in front of them and to the far right and left. Their outlines were vague but Spyro could make them out as aircraft. They flew in a straight line, like their own aircraft. How crowded was it up here?

“Uh… roger that Charlotte. Any idea when that’ll clear up?”

Spyro turned back to the pilots, watching them. He couldn’t hear who was talking to them, but their faces was telling Spyro of what they might have been hearing. Their faces had a look of shock, nervousness and anxiety as they looked at each other.

“What do they mean, Charlotte is shutting down? Where the hell do they expect us to land this thing? I hope they realize we only brought enough fuel to land there…” The pilot sitting in the left seat mumbled as he started pulling out a map.

“If they shut down the airport, does that mean all of US East is shut down…?”

“Don’t be stupid, they only shut down the airport, the land route may still be open.”

“I don’t know, it’s just like what they did at US North. First it was a checkpoint, then a few airports, then the whole zone was shut down.”

“US North is closer to them then we are, I think we’re fine.”

The two pilots stopped talking, instead looking down at a map for reference. Spyro frowned, remembering the names they were saying. Charlotte, Colorado, it was all familiar to Spyro. Charlotte, was that the city they had been in earlier, back where Hunter was? The name sounded so similar, as did the circumstances. Back in the mall, Spyro remembered the soldiers talking about the land route to Charlotte closing up. Was this what was happening at the same time? If they closed the land route, and now this ‘airport’, was the entire zone being shut down like they had feared?

Another thought came across Spyro’s mind. If this was happening at the same time as the mall memory, just how close together were these events…?

A flash of orange from outside the cockpit’s windows caught Spyro’s attention, making his stomach come into his throat. The flash was far off into the distance, and disappeared as soon as it appeared. Spyro looked hard at where he had seen the flash, barely having caught it. The pilots didn’t seem to notice it, continuing to operate the aircraft.

“Whoa… you feel that?” One of the pilots asked.

“Yeah I feel it too…” The other responded as he braced his control column. The craft started to shake slightly, and Spyro felt uneasy.

There, again in the distance there was a flash. Spyro turned, looking out once more into the dark cloudy skies. Just as quick as it had spawned it vanished from sight. What was it, was it the light from before…?

Suddenly, a bright beam of orange cascaded down from the layer of clouds above them, slicing through to the cloud layer below them, splitting the sky. The beam of pure orange dominated the whole sky, and shook the aircraft with its presence.

“What the hell is that?!” One of the pilots asked as they saw it, veering the aircraft slightly to avoid the beam. While it was far off in the distance, its presence alone was enough to shutter the plane. Spyro caught a glimpse of one of the aircraft closer to the beam, seeing its sleek silver silhouette off in the distance before the craft erupted into a ball of flames, shaking itself to pieces because it was so close to the beam of light.

“Oh Jesus! Jesus Christ!” The other pilot yelled as the windows on the craft cracked and began to shatter. Spyro braced himself as he could feel the craft rocking violently. A sudden boom reverberated through the craft, causing Spyro to fall to the floor. He quickly got up, moving back to the window just in time to see what he guessed were the engines on this aircraft engulfed in a ball of fire.

The pilots braced hard as the craft then went into a steep dive, plunging towards the layer of clouds below them. Up ahead, Spyro could see another beam of orange light cut through the clouds, causing the clouds below to turn black and red. Lightning began to flash throughout the sky around them, leaping from cloud to cloud. A bolt of lightning hit an aircraft off in the distance, Spyro able to catch a glimpse of it as it caught fire itself and plunged into the clouds below.

What the hell was happening?!

Was this what was happening to the mall? Was the mall below them?!

Spyro could see the clouds below them churning with a bright orange and red, thuds reverberating through the aircraft. The people in the back were screaming with terror, and the force of the aircraft plunging forward sent Spyro slamming against the back of the cockpit. The pilots fought hard to keep the aircraft afloat, but soon the nose began to pass through the clouds.

The power within the aircraft cut out, leaving them in a dark room, the only light coming from the orange fire outside. Spyro could feel his heart racing, his body reacting to the situation, even though he was so sure he wasn’t really there!

The craft plunged through the lower layer of clouds, emerging to show the ground below them. Spyro could see for miles and miles the snow covered landscape. He could see the beam slamming into the ground ahead of them, waves of energy flowing across the landscape. Below them, a city began to shake, its mighty towers and structures falling apart and being blown away from the massive waves of energy.

It was then Spyro began to notice something else, he began to notice something happening down on the ground itself. The ground below the city began to split open, land shooting up high into the sky while other segments sank down below. Buildings tumbled from the rapid shift in the ground, and Spyro could see something in the fissures below, something glowing brightly. As the ground gave way and parted, there was something below the surface, and it was erupting out. It seemed to be coming from the beams themselves, but it was hard to concentrate as the craft plunged to the ground below.

“Crap! Crap! I can barely hold her!” The pilot yelled.

“Shit, it’s the goddamn apocalypse! Shit!” The other responded, almost in a crazed state. They had managed to get the craft into a glide, taking it down towards the city below. All around them buildings and skyscrapers were being shaken to pieces, one building almost slamming into them on their way down. They were so close to the ground, Spyro could see it shooting up at them.

“Come on! Come on!” The pilot yelled, pulling up. They were feet from the ground, then inches then…

Spyro gasped for air, his eyes shooting open. He saw a figure before him, a black silhouette of darkness, black light radiating from around it, its look driving a cold chill through Spyro’s bones. He gasped more, wanting to yelp out.

Suddenly it was gone.

It was just dark, dark and cold.

Quickly looking around, Spyro found himself inside the cockpit of the aircraft, though this time it was black and destroyed. The once shiny silver metal was now blackened with age and soot. The chairs had rotted away and the glass windshields were now just open holes in the craft, showing the vegetation below.

Spyro was breathing hard, taking a deep breath as he realized he was back in the present, back in his world. He closed his eyes, slumping to the floor to catch himself, his heart still racing slightly. He regained himself and walked to the front to peer out. He could… kind of recognize some things from when the aircraft was crashing. He saw buildings that looked familiar, albeit they were so drastically different, overtaken by vegetation and crumbling to almost nothing after so many years.

Spyro looked at the seats where the pilots once sat, frowning as he thought of their fates. The plane would have slammed into the ground hard… Spyro wondered if anyone survived. They hadn’t come across any bodies… and the plane was in remarkably good shape. Perhaps… they survived? Spyro would have liked to think that was the case, that they were able to survive. Maybe they escaped, and made it to US East after all. Maybe…

Those… beams… what were they? Spyro looked out, seeing the beam in his head right where it would have been. Turning to the right side he looked out at the mass of trees that had overtaken the city, figuring the other beam was in that direction, the direction they had actually been traveling.

Had this been the fate of the mall? Had it been destroyed by the beam he had just witnessed slam into the ground? What did it all mean…?

Also, what was that figure, the figure he had seen standing before him after the vision had ended? Was it the same as before?

“Spyro, is that you?” Spyro heard a voice coming from the cabin, turning around to see Cynder looking down at him.

“Yeah… yeah it’s me.” Spyro responded, trotting out from his hiding place.

“How’d you get over there, we didn’t even see you get up.” Cynder said, a little confused as he realized he had fallen asleep on a row of seats farther back than them.

“You guys must’ve not been paying attention I guess.” Spyro simply responded, really unable to say anything else. Cynder looked at him for a bit, her face speaking of suspicion. Did she know something about him? Had she heard his story to Horren back at his home about his ability to see visions?

“Had that sign always been knocked over like that?” Jericho said, interjecting himself as he sat next to his pot, rifle in his lap. Cynder turned, looking out through the gaping hole.

“I don’t think so… I could have sworn it was upright last time…” Cynder said, seeing a large rotted sign that was over a faded roadway, now hanging down slightly.

“It’s just a sign.” Spyro said, puzzled as to their fixation on the sign. What did a sign have anything to do with… well, anything? Cynder and Jericho looked genuinely concerned, looking hard out into the rain. Jericho pulled his rifle up to his shoulder, pulling back on the charging handle to load a round into his weapon.

“We’re being watched.” Jericho said, quickly reaching down to kill the light on his pot and disassemble it to put back into his sack.

“Not watched… stalked…” Cynder said, entering a readied state. Her eyes darted across the landscape. Spyro peered out, only seeing darkness.

There was… a certain cold about the craft again. Spyro breathed out, seeing his breath puff out like a cloud of smoke. He could hear those whispers again… just like before the vision. He reached over into his sack, retrieving the crystal shard. It was glowing a soft purple, a taint of black within the center. Spyro’s eyes shot open as he looked around the landscape below.

There, he could see them, they were everywhere!

Shadows, silhouettes were standing all below the aircraft, looking up at them. There were… hundreds of them! They occupied the city, the ground, the trees, the grass! They were surrounded!

“I can’t see anything…” Jericho said, using his rifle to scan the horizon.

“You can’t see them?” Spyro asked, almost in a hushed voice.

“See… what?” Cynder asked, looking around nervously.

“They’re all around us…” Spyro said, backing up slightly. He could feel the cold radiating from them, the evil coming from them…

“I don’t see shit, Spyro what the hell are you talking about?” Jericho asked, getting troubled himself.

“What’s going on guys, what’s all the ruckus about…?” Flame asked, yawning as he walked from his row of seats to them. Sparx buzzed by his head, looking a little lazy from having just woken up.

“Shush, shush!” Cynder said sharply, cutting them off. Flame walked slowly to the edge of the hole peering down. They all sat in silence, looking for whatever it was that Spyro could see. Spyro just watched as the silhouettes stared up at them, not moving, not doing anything…

What did they want…? What were they waiting for…?

Suddenly there was movement, coming from one of the nearby ruins. A creature emerged from the ruins, shambling towards the center of the opening. It looked like a deformed anthro fox of some sorts. Its body was horribly misshapen, muscles bulging from its arms, twisted and forming unnatural shapes. Its fur had fallen out, only leaving the flesh below which had turned into a pale purple hue. Its eyes were the most troubling part, it had no eyes. There was only a void where its eyes once were, a black void that didn’t even looked like sockets. There was just… nothing there. It was as if a rift had formed there, sucking in all the light and leaving a vacuum. It looked up at them, its arms twitching unnaturally as it stared up at them. Jericho, Cynder and Flame all looked at it, Jericho immediately training his rifle onto it. Yes, they could at LEAST see that!

“What… in the hell is that…?” Jericho asked as his finger rested on the trigger. Cynder just looked in pure horror, backing up.

“I don’t know… I really don’t know…” Cynder said, shaking her head.

The creature just looked at them before opening its mouth, letting out a sorrow filled cry, it splitting their ears. Jericho grit his teeth, unsure whether or not to take the shot.

“Get ready to move… we’re leaving…” He said softly. They all nodded quickly, not wanting to question it.

Spyro could still see the figures down below, the empty shadows that dotted the landscape. They hadn’t moved the entire time, just staring at them.

More creatures began to come out of the ruins, responding to the first creature’s howl. They all began to form up around them, numbering at first only a few, then a dozen, then quickly multiplying.

“If we’re going to do something we need to do it fast!” Cynder said sharply.

“Right, we move north, as fast as we can go…” Jericho said, readying his rope so he could escape down.

The first creature didn’t give them a chance, instantly opening his muzzle and letting out a more aggressive howl. The other creatures raced toward the trees with speeds Spyro had never seen before. Jericho shoved his finger down on his trigger, his rifle coming to life. The metallic retort of the rifle echoed through the plane and the forest around them as he fired down at the creatures. Rounds hit them, slicing right through their bodies and into the ground below. It didn’t even seem to affect them as they took each of his rounds, still racing towards the trees. It was only after many hits did some fall to the ground, unable to sprint. Even if they had been immobilized like that, they still used their arms to crawl to the aircraft. What were these things?!

“Go, go, go!” Jericho yelled. The creatures had already begun to scale the trees, only feet from the craft itself. Jericho kicked his rope down to slide out, but Flame instead grabbed onto Jericho.

“No time for that!” Flame yelled, flapping his wings and using them to propel them from the craft. Jericho grunted from this, not expecting it. Flame yelled out, completely surprised at Jericho’s weight.

“Shit, what the hell do you eat?!” He yelled out.

“Shut up, it was your idea!” Jericho yelled, being held up by his backpack which Flame clutched onto for dear life. Spyro and Cynder leapt out of the craft with Sparx, the creatures soon overcoming the craft. They were like bees, swarming over their prey and engulfing it. They watched them sail off, giving more howls. Spyro looked down at the ground, watching the shadows as they didn’t move, just… watching them.

Spyro opened his muzzle, feeling the energy and warmth flowing through his body as he was once again able to execute an elemental attack. Fire leapt from his muzzle, sailing down and colliding with one of the creatures. The creature ignited in a bright display, flailing around as it tried to still follow them before tumbling to the ground, dead. Cynder followed it up with her own attack, a sphere of purple energy colliding into one of the creatures, the sphere exploding out with great force. The blast sent several creatures flying. Jericho reached into his sack, pulling out several round objects. Spyro watched him curiously as he pulled off small rings from each of the round objects before letting them fall to the ground. It was then that Spyro realized they were hand grenades.

Each grenade exploded with great force, blowing several of the creatures into the air. It was enough to thin their numbers for about… a few seconds. More and more of these creatures raced from the ruins, appearing from any hole you could think of. Where were they all coming from?!

“Where the hell are we supposed to go?!” Flame asked, struggling to keep Jericho airborne.

“Just keep flying!” Spyro yelled back, flying over to grab onto Jericho to help Flame.

“Why won’t they just… die?!” Cynder yelled in frustration, firing yet another sphere of energy. Spyro and Flame added their shots to the mix, blasts of fire hitting the ground. It wasn’t enough though, their fire attacks were almost useless in the rain.

Jericho adjusted himself, raising his rifle and firing bursts of gunfire that hit several of the creatures but failed to do much.

Looking down, Spyro saw that the strange shadows were fading in and out of existence, keeping up with them. What the hell did they want?! Why were they just… waiting?! The creatures below were keeping pace easily, traversing the harsh terrain with little trouble.

Spyro looked up, attempting to avoid the tree branches with Flame’s help, but he saw something up ahead. More shadows, they were lining some of the branches ahead of them!

“Look out!” Spyro yelled, trying to swerve to avoid them.

“What, look out for what?” Flame asked, confused. It was too late, they passed right through the shadows as Flame had tried to pull Jericho up and over them. Spyro clenched his eyes, feeling a searing pain cut into his skull. Flame’s eye shot open, his wings starting to droop as his body was going limp.

“What’s going on with you guys?! What happened?!” Cynder asked, flying over to them. She hadn’t flown through the shadows, and grabbed onto Jericho to help Flame who seemed to be fading in and out. Jericho gripped his head, a pain hitting him as well.

“Just go… go!” Spyro yelled, holding onto Jericho tightly as Flame was beginning to recover himself as well.

How the hell were they going to get away from these things, they didn’t even seem to be getting tired yet!

A long, drawn out howl split the air of chaos and tension. It was very similar to the howl they had heard before, so different from the ear splitting howl of the creatures below. It too spoke of sorrow though, and it caused the creatures to halt in their tracks.

Spyro looked down at the ground, seeing the creatures frozen. The shadows had stopped as well, fading away. What… were they doing?

The howl came again, longer, and closer this time.

The creatures began to grab at their heads before panicking and running to any place they could. Within a few seconds, the forest floor below then was once again clear and silent. Even the shadows had completely vanished, fading away.

“Where… where did they all go?” Flame asked, panting.

“I don’t know…” Cynder responded.

“Something scared them off… Though I wouldn’t want to be around to see what it was…” Jericho said. Cynder and the others nodded, going to a safe location to set down. They landed on the roof of a structure nearby that was being overtaken by growth. The dirt had almost swallowed this structure, allowing for Jericho to easily get off of the roof.

The howl had gone away, replaced by only the soft sounds of rain falling around them.

“We have to keep heading north, get out of this God damn forest…” Jericho said as he dumped the magazine from his rifle, only to load another. Spyro nodded quickly, tired from that quick burst of energy.

“North… north is that way.” Cynder said, pointing to a gap in the tree line ahead.

“How can you tell?” Flame asked, breathing in hard.

“I can see some stars.” Cynder said, pointing up at a gap in the clouds above. Spyro looked up, seeing the North Star glowing softly against the black skies. It was hard to see, but it was there.

“She’s right, come on.” Jericho said, moving off the roof. The others raced along, wanting to be anywhere but there. Ahead, they could see an end to the tree line, with mountains beyond. Was it the end to the forest? Spyro hoped so, wanting so desperately to get away from here. As they dashed towards the edge of the trees, he took a look back, wondering just what those creatures were, and what they wanted with them…

Only time could tell, as with all the other questions he had.

End of Chapter 09