85 Arnin’s Murder’s Effects (2/2)

'Arnin, you demon! You caused this! You did this to my granddaughter! What did they do to you! WHAT?! Now…' He thought angrily, and couldn't help but shake as he watched his granddaughter walk like a puppet. She seemed lifeless.

Ashia was clueless as to who the old man was. This was only the second time she had met him. The first was when Avian took her to meet the village elder and get some information out of him. Avian, on the other hand, knew who Zuko was. She investigated almost everyone in the village so she knew that this old man was the grandfather of the seven year old that Arnin had killed.

She somewhat regretted her actions back then, but even still, she wasn't willing to let the old man act as he pleased. She pitied him and his granddaughter, but that was it. Arnin was still the twin brother of her personal disciple.

Since she wasn't willing to help the old man, and even planned on becoming an obstacle for him, Avian treated the granddaughter just as well as she would Nekaia. Even though she treated the young girl nicely and tried to talk to her as much as possible, she noticed the dull and lonely look in her eyes.

'For such young girl to experience something so… Arnin!' Avian gritted her teeth and thought of Arnin's evil actions, and couldn't help but think worse of him by the second.

All of them continued to walk slowly. Nekaia spoke to the young girl often in an attempt to become friends with her, but the little girl remained somewhat distant. However sometimes she would smile slightly, which would make Nekaia and Zuko extremely happy.

Soon, they had walked for about two hours. ”Mom, can we take a break? My legs hurt.” Nekaia complained to Ashia with a small pout.

Ashia smiled at Nekaia and looked at her with a chuckle. ”Weren't you going to not rest? Didn't you say that you can handle it?” Although Ashia teased Nekaia, she still slowed down.

Zuko also looked at his granddaughter and spoke warmly. ”Szerra, do you want to rest as well?” Zuko spoke with a very light tone, as if afraid that a loud noise would break the small child.

Szerra looked at Zuko with her dull malachite eyes and then nodded her small head. ”Sure, Grandpa.” She walked towards Zuko and held onto his large hand. The latter smiled lightly, and also stopped walking.

Ashia pulled out some food from a bag she was carrying and handed a candy to Nekaia. She then turned her gaze towards Szerra, ”Little Szerra, do you want to eat some candy as well? I have lots of them.” Ashia didn't know about what really happened to Szerra, but she noticed that the little girl was always a little down. This made her feel sad, so she tried her best to make her happy.

Szerra looked towards the soft candy in Ashia's hand with a tiny bit of desire showing in her eyes, however she looked towards her grandfather before acting. The latter looked down and noticed that there was something different in her eyes and couldn't help but smile.

”Go ahead, Szerra.” He gave her a little push on her back. Szerra walked towards Ashia and grabbed the candy with shaky hands. Ashia noticed this, and pushed the candy towards her gently with a warm smile.

”We also have some water. Would you like some?” Ashia brought out a small gourd that was filled with water, handing it over to her.

Szerra looked at Ashia's smile, and couldn't help but think back to her mother who looked at her the same way. She felt her eyes redden a little, before slowly grabbing the gourd. ”T-thank you.” She spoke in an almost mouselike manner.

Zuko, although he held immense hate towards Arnin, did not feel the same way towards Ashia. The way she treated Szerra made him somewhat happy, but he still didn't try to approach them. He knew that Ashia and Florian did not know that Szerra was the daughter of the people that Arnin killed, and that he was their relative as well, but because they were related to Arnin, he couldn't bring himself to completely like them.

”Szerra, do you want to play a game? I'm bored, and there is no one else to play with.” Nekaia walked over to Szerra with her mouth stuffed with candy. She wasn't the type of person to feel hate or dislike towards many people, and liked to make friends with almost anyone she met.

Szerra was confused as to what she should do. She thought for a moment, before nodding her head and walking off with Nekaia. ”Girls, don't go too far, alright?”

”Don't worry, Mom. We are only going to play by that tree.” Nekaia replied hurriedly, before running off with Szerra.

”Honey, would mind keeping a watch on them?” Ashia turned and looked at Florian, who was silently drinking some water beside her.

Florian smiled and got up from the ground. He walked towards the direction that Nekaia ran off to. They were in the middle of the forest, and although they were is an area that was safer than other places, it was still a forest. Animals would be roaming around, and could potentially hurt the little girls. Though, the animals in these parts would usually be very small and practically harmless.

After Florian left, Zuko also got up from the ground. ”Where are you going, Zuko?” The village elder looked at the old man and asked with a small smile.

”If you already know, why bother asking?” Zuko said with a cold tone, before walking away. The village elder sighed slightly as he shook his head. After the incident between him and Zuko, the latter had become quite distant.

This saddened the village elder greatly, but there was nothing he could do. 'Arnin, what did you do? Why did have to be so rash and act so… sinisterly?' Even the village elder was shocked when he learned of Arnin's actions. He felt that Arnin was a little too sinister for his own age, and that bad things would happen to him in the future because of this.

Avian watched from the sides and couldn't help but sigh angrily. 'Arnin really caused so much trouble and ruined so many lives. What a…'