Re-Entered

Moonlight lingered over Kanakuah’s waters. Its pale glow danced across the rolling waves, and the sea shimmered like a field of scattered stars.

The cries of seagulls echoed overhead as ships emerged from the morning mist. Their horns bellowed across the water, the sound carrying between the surrounding isles before rolling into the hidden harbor.

From the open ocean, the archipelago appeared to be nothing more than a collection of rocky islands. Few realized there were narrow passages winding between them. Fewer still knew those passages led to Kanakuah.

Lanterns swayed gently along the docks as workers prepared for the day’s business. Crates were loaded onto ships while others were carried ashore. Sailors called to one another while ropes creaked against wooden masts. Waves slapped against the piers below.

Above the harbor sat the town. Shutters opened one by one as its residents woke to greet the morning. Some stepped outside to begin their work. Others lingered inside, enjoying the comfort of a day off. Fresh pies cooled upon windowsills while children waved farewell to parents departing for work.

And above it all sat the home of Kanakuah’s founders.

A sprawling estate built into the mountainside. Its four wings surrounded a central courtyard that served as the heart of the property. Archways connected the halls where servants, merchants, and family members crossed paths throughout the day, and long balconies allowed constant observation of its people below.

Even at this early hour, the estate was awake. Servants moved through the courtyard carrying supplies. Clerks hurried between offices with ledgers tucked beneath their arms. Gardeners worked around the fountain at its center.

From an upper window, a young dragon by the name of Talen watched it all. His scales were as dark as charcoal, yet as hard as obsidian—a rather shocking feature for one as youthful as himself.

Everything was moving as expected until his gaze settled on two familiar figures. Two large dragons emerged from the north wing together. One shared his charcoal scales, while the other bore deep maroon scales. They walked side by side, engaged in conversation.

They soon came to the entrance of the south wing, stopping to speak with the red-fox servant who stood patiently waiting for them. The three exchanged words, and although Talen couldn’t hear them, he could read their body language.

As he watched the charcoal-scaled dragon shake his head in disappointment, Talen knew exactly what that expression meant. His father wore it whenever harbor business went poorly. For Talen, that usually meant his own plans for the day had just been canceled.

He watched as his father excused himself, leaving the maroon dragon and the red-fox servant behind in the courtyard.

Talen sighed.

Then, as if she had somehow heard him from where she stood, his mother turned and looked directly at his window.

His eyes widened only slightly as he quickly sat upright.

“Talen! Your father needs you at the harbor!” she called from below, a smile on her face though the news was unfavorable for him.

“Be right there!” Talen called back as he rose from his chair.

The floor creaked under his weight as his feet slapped against the wooden floor. He shifted through the uniforms in his closet, grabbing a black-and-gold one that had been freshly cleaned and pressed to perfection. He laid it on his bed before heading to the bathroom to get ready.

Minutes later, Talen came down, freshly dressed. His locs draped over his shoulders and down his back, guided neatly around the curve of his horns. His mother had lifted herself from the bench she rested on as he approached, smiling happily as she waited.

“You always look so handsome in your uniform,” she remarked before straightening it at the shoulders.

Talen simply stood still and allowed her to make her corrections. It was a battle he had learned long ago not to fight, no matter how hard he tried to straighten the uniform himself.

“Alright. I won’t keep you here too long, you know how your father can get,” she said before placing a gentle kiss upon his cheek.

“I know. Love you mom,” Talen replied, tilting his head slightly toward her.

“Dinner will be ready when you both return,” she said, already knowing they would be away for the entirety of the day.

Talen wanted to groan and whine at the sentence, now getting a better idea of how bad the situation at the harbor was.

“Ok. I’ll let Dad know,” he answered and marched towards the harbor.

Singing, laughter, and shouted commands filled Talen’s ears as he arrived at the harbor. He attempted to tune out as much of it as he could while scanning the area for his father. Soon, his gaze landed on his father, who was currently speaking with a smaller, elderly fox.

Talen made his way over, weaving between sailors, merchants, and laborers. It was like moving through a congested highway before he finally caught up to the both of them.

They stood beside a large ship speaking with one another while workers unloaded cargo without supervision.

Talen’s eyes widened.

His heart skipped a beat.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he thought as he looked at the shipment.

His father’s voice broke his focus.

“Sir, I understand you already made the call, but we have a limit as to how much cargo can be moved at a time. We receive many—” his father tried to explain to the smaller fox but was rudely interrupted.

“Now I done told you! I’m not hauling all this shit back to Kalfur! Those unprofessional PISS-POTS you call “officials” aren’t charging me thirteen arms and twenty-four legs to unload this shit that YOUR boys called for!” The old fox swore and fussed, his body trembling against his cane and his eyes barely open.

“Either you take all this and figure it out. Or you folks aren’t getting SHIT!” the fox continued.

Talen finally approached, and his father wasted no time taking advantage of the interruption.

“Talen! Right on time,” his father said, throwing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.

“Ah, finally! A man with some SENSE! Old boy, tell your foolish old man here that this is his consequence, not mine,” the fox said, wheezing out a laugh.

“Donald, it’s always something with you,” Talen said before pausing to look at the shipment again.

“You know half of that stuff isn’t ours, right?”

The fox froze.

“Say what now?” the fox asked, his eyes finally visible as he quickly looked over at the cargo.

“HEY! HEY! HOLD IT, YOU FOOLS!”

Unfortunately, the old fox turned too fast and began to groan as he held his back.

“Go rest, Donald. We’ll take it from here,” Talen said.

“Yeah, yeah. And you big dunce, why’d you let my people unload all this shit when it isn’t even yours?!” Donald continued grumbling as Talen’s father guided him toward a nearby bench.

“Because that’s your job, you old bastard,” his father shot back.

The two shared a laugh.

Talen only shook his head and made his way down the dock.

“HOLD IT!” he shouted to get everyone’s attention.

The sound of his voice was like an alarm to the workers. They froze and looked toward Talen. Even those working aboard the ship peeked over the railing to see what was happening.

“Where is Henry?” Talen asked as he looked at them all.

“Didn’t come in today,” one of the workers responded.

“Damnit... that’s why Mom said dinner.” Talen swore under his breath.

“Alright... Well, I got bad news.” Talen began as he walked closer to the boxes.

“A lot of this has to be reloaded because it’s not ours. I already spotted three shipments in the front that go to Kalfur and one for Jorhun. There’s no telling how many more is mixed up in all of this,” Talen explained.

The docks immediately exploded with complaints.

“Are you serious?!” one of the crewmen yelled

“That old fart just had us pulling out random shit?!” another complained

“Oh my DAYS! Give me a BREAK!” a third groaned, turning and marching down the ramp to start reloading

The crew began to fall apart at the seams. Talen had to hold back laughter. Quickly, he cut in before the situation got out of hand.

“It’s alright! We’ll split into teams of two. Team A, you’ll unload. Team B, you’ll reload. Anybody got a specific team they’d rather be on?” Talen asked, giving the crew a chance to think.

They all looked at each other and began shrugging and murmuring.

“Well...I’ll take Team B,” a black panther called from atop the ship’s railing.

“Aye, I’m already carrying this heavy crap anyway. I’ll stay on team A,” a rhino added.

Soon, Talen’s new system was rolling like clockwork.

The cool morning had turned into a hot afternoon. His uniform had become a mess, its collar popped, shirttail untucked, and several buttons undone. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he lifted the final crate and carried it aboard, passing the rhino from earlier.

“Last one right here! You did good, kid!” the rhino cheered as he stomped down the ramp.

Talen was too exhausted to answer, managing only a weary smile and a nod. The rhino laughed jovially, recognizing the look of complete exhaustion.

He dropped the last crate onto the ship and dropped to his knees. He took a moment. However, it was short-lived as another ship’s horn bellowed in the distance. He winced, almost in pain and groaned as he pushed himself up.

“Talen! Got another one coming in!” his father called from the docks.

“Yeah... I heard it,” he answered solemnly as he walked down the ramp.

His father watched as he came down and chuckled. He threw an arm around him as they walked together down the dock.

“Actually Talen...You can head home for today,” his father said suddenly.

Talen’s eyes widened. If his father wasn’t guiding him forward he would’ve stopped in his tracks.

“But...Henry isn’t here. You’re going to need the help aren’t you?” Talen asked but refused to look at him.

“Well, if you don’t want to take the freedom, then yeah. Come on and help me with this next shipment,” his father said with a chuckle.

Talen stayed quiet and his father knew what that meant.

“Talen. You need to stop caging yourself like this. I said you can leave. Take the opportunity when you get it,” his father said.

“Right. I’d like to go home, if that’s fine.”

His father simply sighed and patted him on the back.

“I don’t know what to do with you sometimes boy. Run along now before I change my mind,” his father said, ruffling his hair and sending him forward.

Talen cracked a smile and ran off to the estate, but before he left he quickly turned, bouncing on one foot to keep momentum and balance.

“Oh yeah! Mom said dinner will be ready when you get back!” Talen called.

“Tell her two plates for me!” his father responded.

Talen chuckled and gave an affirmative nod before resuming his run back home.

The town was bustling now. Children were out playing, merchants were advertising stock, and the smell of various foods filled the air as restaurants had opened up. The walk was like a breath of fresh air for Talen, and he couldn’t help but smile and enjoy the scenery.

“Talen! Come play!” a trio of raccoon kids began to shout as they ran over to him.

One immediately grabbed his arm while the other two flashed innocent smiles, silently begging him to join them.

“Oh man, I can’t today guys! I just helped with a huge shipment and I’m exhausted!” Talen tried explaining.

Two of the kids groaned in disappointment but there was one who still insisted.

“Come on Talen pleaseee! Just one game!” the middle one begged.

“Kato! He said no! Now let him go!” their mother shouted from across the street.

The kid then let him go, whining sadly as he stepped back.

“Kato, Kane, Kaden! Come inside for a bath as well!” their mother added, and the triplets ran off.

“Bye Talen!” Kane said before running off.

“Come play with us tomorrow, please!” Kato shouted as he waved goodbye.

Kaden simply looked up at Talen as if he wanted to ask for something, but was hesitant. Talen squatted down to his height and smiled.

“Everything okay, Kaden?” Talen said, opening his arms for a hug.

“I wanna go with you, Talen,” Kaden said, his voice soft and low.

It shattered Talen’s heart as he knew what that meant. Talen peeked up at his mother, who stood at the door with her arms crossed and a slight frown, waiting for them to come inside.

“Kaden,” Talen began but paused.

He didn’t want to lie but he didn’t want to make the kid feel hopeless.

“I’ll try to get something arranged Kaden. I promise,” Talen said and opened his arms for a hug.

Kaden almost jumped into Talen’s arms, hugging him tightly before running back to his mother as well.

The door slammed shut after Kaden entered, and Talen lowered his head in defeat.

“I wanna go with you, Talen.”

That desperate voice and face haunted Talen like a crime. He slowly reached up, hands slightly trembling, and gripped his horns, squeezing his eyes shut. He stayed there, squatted almost into a ball, as he tried to forget the memory and the feeling.

“What if he cries?”

“What if he doesn’t like me anymore?”

“What if something bad happens to him?”

The questions and possibilities raced through Talen’s mind.

Then, suddenly—

“Talen, what’s wrong?” his mother asked.

Her voice was soft as she gently placed a hand on his own. It was enough to snap him back to reality and calm down.

He slowly stood up and tried to think of an answer.

“Talen, tell me what’s wrong. And no lies. What happened?” she asked again, almost a command.

“It was Kaden. He wanted to stay with us again.” Talen answered, his voice lowering as he explained what the young racoon wanted.

His mother sighed as she looked toward the house where the family lived.

“It’s okay, Talen. I’ll check on them once I finish at Mira’s Lounge,” his mother answered.

“You’re all finished at the harbor? I see you’ve been working hard,” she asked afterward, straightening his collar.

“Yeah. Dad said I could leave early... He also said he wanted two plates for dinner,” Talen said and his mother went red in the face.

“Oh my... that man,” she said as she tried to hide her face.

Talen was a bit confused but thought it was probably better not to know.

“Do you need help with anything Mom?” he asked.

“Oh no, Talen! You go home and enjoy your break. You earned it. There’s no telling what tomorrow is going to bring.”

Talen nodded and gave a smile to his mother before continuing up the slope and back to the estate.

He entered through the front doors and the servants quickly looked up from their duties.

“Oh? Sir Talen, you’re back earlier than expected,” the red-fox servant from before said as he entered.

“Hey, Loid. And yeah, father let me go early this time,” he responded.

“I see. Well it must have been well earned. This is by far the most rugged I’ve seen you look,” Loid pointed out.

Talen narrowed his eyes at Loid, taking a moment to try and calculate if that was an attempt at a jab or not.

“Yeah. It was. Appearances tend to change when you’re working hard,” Talen responded, a subtle jab himself as he looked at the clean and uptight fox.

Loid spoke no further, only releasing a “hm” as response. Talen accepted that, flashing a smirk at Loid that practically said, “Gotcha.” before walking past him to the south wing.

Finally he arrived at his room. It was still cool, organized, and as dull as he left it. He inhaled deeply as his eyes traveled from the empty walls, to the empty desk, to the worn wooden floor, before finally settling on the simple bed.

It was minimalistic, and Talen liked it that way. Or so he thought.

As he undressed, bathed, and changed into something more casual, he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling.

“Maybe,” Talen said to himself.

He clasped his hands together, resting them on his stomach as he twiddled his thumbs.

“Maybe I should have stayed out with Dad...” Talen said, already bored in his room.