Lucas, Duster, Boney and Kumatora huddled around the campfire they built together. It wasn't cold or anything, it just felt like the right thing to do after a long day of adventuring. They had just rescued Duster from Mr. Saturn village (Rescued from the pigmasks, not the Mr. Saturns.) and were getting one another caught up on the course of events. "So, you two found each other, then went up to the mountains?" Duster asked, rubbing his chin, "and rode an icebox down the tallest mountain?" The other three nodded, "yeah, in a way, it was a good thing you weren't with us. We might've had to leave somebody behind!" Kuma exclaimed with a yawn. Lucas nodded slightly, "b-but we're glad we found you. It wasn't the same without you..." he looked at Duster with his prize winning smile. He meant it, he missed Duster. He was probably the only villager who knew Lucas was a crybaby, but didn't make fun or gossip about him. He'd also missed Kumatora as well. She was a lot like Claus, always teasing Lucas, but ready to knock out just about anybody who made fun of him.

"Lucas, are you okay?" Duster waved a hand in front of him while Kumatora snapped her fingers at him. "What?" He blinked, "yeah, I'm fine. I just missed you both." He looked a little embarrassed from worrying his friends. With that answer, they both breathed a sigh of relief and sat back. Kumatora was the first to say something (as usual.), "aawwwww, you big baby, I missed all of you too! I'd hug you, but I'm too tired, y'know?" She beamed. Duster waited for her to finish, coughed, and looked at the ground, "yeah, it was pretty... uh, not great without you guys. Sorry for making you all worry." He coughed again, and looked back up at them with his own little smile. Kumatora snorted, "Made us worry? We're sorry for making you wait for us dude!" She laid back and looked up to the sky, "hey, I'm actually really tired, so you both will just have to have some guy time. Night." She got up and walked back to one of the huts in the village. "But I thought we were sleeping by the campfire?" Lucas called out to her. She turned on her heel, "you two and fluff pup may be used to sleeping outside, but I ain't. Laters." She started walking again, "You've never slept outside?" Duster asked with a bemused look. She turned around again obviously annoyed, "I take my sleep very seriously." She hissed at them. They decided it was best to let her go.

Lucas had to admit it was kind of nice to have Duster, with his calm disposition and protective instincts watching his back and protecting him. While Kumatora on the other hand, loud and proud, was almost like a sister version of Claus. Of anybody to be saving the world with, he couldn't think of any better people for the task. Lucas kind of felt bad he hadn't taken the time to get to know Duster. Well, no time like the present, right? He could get to know Kumatora next time, but now it's just him and Duster. And Boney, but he was asleep. "Um. So, how'd you get to be so good with all of those things you use?" Lucas asked sincerely, "I've never seen you train or anything before." Duster looked at Lucas with surprise. Nobody ever asked him that before, especially not a kid, "I trained at night. With my dad." He replied, thinking of how many nights he had been awake just to train with his dad. All of them. "Oh, that makes sense." Lucas smiled, but then frowned, "Is that how you got all of those scars?" Scars? Why is he bringing this up? "Y-yeah. Believe it or not, I fail almost every time I train with my dad. Or, used to, I should say." He sighed, "sometimes I wish I didn't have to spend so much time with him... but in the long run it was worth it, I guess." He mumbled, thinking about how Wess hadn't bothered to search for him at all. He knew Wess didn't because... because he just knew. Lucas, however, was unhappy to hear that remark about Wess. He wished Flint would've spent more time with him, but ever since Claus went missing, Lucas had felt like dirt. He knew his dad meant well, but still. "What's wrong?" Duster asked, wondering what was troubling Lucas. Lucas couldn't help it, but the more he thought about it, more he felt like his dad didn't care about him, "... I wish my dad spent time with me..." he said in a small voice. What? "What do you mean, spend time with you?" Duster was confused. Did he want Flint to play with him? "I wish he would talk to me. Dad has been leaving every morning to look for Claus, and I'm always alone." Lucas stated simply. Duster had a look of concern on his face that asked so many questions, why would anybody do that? "Um... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset." Lucas looked down and started poking at the ground with his stick. Duster shook his head "I'm not upset, I'm just... surprised is all. He doesn't talk to you?" "Yeah." "That's... not that great." He sighed in frustration. This sweet kid has lost so many people that his dad ignoring him is 'just another thing', like it's normal. Well, honestly, Wess pretty much only talks to Duster about five things. Training, eating, sleeping, how big of a moron he is and the hummingbird egg. But still, that's not really fair to Lucas. You can't lose one kid and act like the other doesn't exist. "I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to make you think about your dad. I thought only my dad was hard on his kid." Duster coughed awkwardly, "not that it's that big of a deal, it made me be able to help you guys." He tried to laugh to relieve the tension around the fire, but Lucas squinted at Duster, "What do you mean?" He asked in a confused tone. "Well, you asked about my scars, right? Most of them are from training- with him." Duster explained. Lucas' eyes widened, "h-he hurt you?" He sounded kind of scared. Duster shrugged, "he was training me, and I would get hurt if he knocked me down or something. He never wanted to hurt me, it just happened because I was awful at training." He chuckled. He realized how bad it sounded, but Wess wasn't a monster. Sure, he could be kind of a jerk, always calling him a smelly moron, telling him he was lazy- that sort of thing, but Duster figured if Wess didn't care about him, he wouldn't... he... wouldn't... Duster was lost in thought. Come to think of it, dad had always had something unkind to say about him. "Duster, do you not want to talk about it?" Lucas shuffled closer to Duster, who smiled quickly at him but then frowned again, "I-I think it'd be good to get it off my chest. Besides, you told me something, might as well tell you." Duster shrugged with his reply. He began listing everything his dad had called him, and noted he had been call a moron more than 11 times. When he finished, he looked back at Lucas. He had a shocked look and tears on his face, "how do you deal with that?" Lucas sniffled and wiped his eyes, "that must be so awful!" He finished. "I'm a grown man, I can take it. Kind of. Yeah, I-" Duster started but was startled when Lucas hugged him tight. Duster awkwardly wrapped his arms around Lucas, pulling him closer. Lucas whispered something barely audible, "I don't think you're a moron..." he hugged Duster tighter, "you're smart and strong, and I don't care if you smell weird. You're kind and gentle, even though you don't have to be, you still are, and I'm proud of you." He breathed in when he was finished. Duster was touched when Lucas told him he didn't think he was a moron, but when he told Duster he was proud of him? His arms fell limp. He'd never heard that from anybody before. Proud of a smelly thief with a messed up leg. Like all his hard work meant something. Lucas sure knew how to make somebody feel good about themself. It felt good to hear somebody appreciated Duster. "And besides, your dad must love you if he's been teaching you how to protect yourself," Lucas said as he released Duster, "and he probably has a hard time telling you how he feels. Some people are like that. It's very hard, I know, but I'm sure he really does think you're great." Lucas grinned, and Duster returned a halfhearted grin. His leg started hurting from when they were hugging. "Thank you, Lucas. It really means a lot. But... can you help me up? My leg hurts." He laughed silently as he held out a hand. Lucas blinked, "oh! Okay!" He exclaimed and hopped up. Grabbing Duster's hand, they both had to work together to help him up. Eventually he was standing straight up, "thank you. Ordinarily, I can do that myself, but my other leg fell asleep..." Duster explained while rubbing his neck. Lucas looked concerned, "is that from training, too?" "Yep. I like to soak in the hot springs when it starts acting up. Wanna come with me?" Duster offered as he kicked dirt into what remained of the campfire. Lucas nodded, and they set off towards the springs.

Upon arrival both young men started taking off their clothes to get in. Duster had just thought of a story from when he was a kid, "wanna hear a funny story?" Duster asked as he was unbuttoning his shirt, "it's about my first time going to the hot springs," Duster smiled fondly at the memory. Lucas looked slightly amused, "sure!" He answered as he slipped into the hot water, letting it envelope his entire body. Duster got into the spring with Lucas before he started his story, "well, after a long day of hard training, my dad told me to go to the hot springs. By myself," Duster explained, "well, first time at the hot springs, right? I...got in and everything." Lucas looked confused, "that's funny?" Duster grinned sheepishly and lowered himself into the water until only his head was above the water, "I didn't know you weren't supposed to be naked..." he whispered.

Lucas's eyes widened and so did his grin (he was trying not to smile), "oh, no." Lucas himself felt embarrassed. Duster nodded, "oh yes. And then some of the villagers came over and got in too." Duster gave a big sigh, "When I saw that they weren't taking off their, you know... I panicked." "What did you DO?" Lucas asked sheepishly, hoping this didn't have the expected outcome. Duster shrugged, "did what I do best. I pretended to sleep until they left. When I finally got home, dad was furious, but then I told him what happened. He laughed so much and so hard that I thought everybody in the village could hear him." Duster stood back up in the spring and rested his arms on the edge, wincing at his leg, "...and then he started telling me how I still smelled, even after a 2 hour long bath." He chuckled. Lucas didn't know what to say except, "does it still hurt?" "Huh?" "Your leg. Does it still hurt, even after soaking it?" He pointed at where he thought Duster's leg was. Duster frowned, "I'd rather not talk about it, buddy. It's not you or anything, I just don't-" "t-that's okay." Lucas mentally kicked himself, "I was just curious." He mumbled and climbed out of the bath, with Duster following behind, "you don't have to get out because I am," Lucas glanced towards the ground, annoyed at himself for ruining the nice time. Duster chuckled a bit, "well, if you hadn't gotten out, I'd be there forever," he said as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

They started walking silently back to the village.

"It does still hurt," Duster said somberly, looking straight ahead, "sometimes I imagine myself getting in and coming out without the problem anymore." Lucas sighed quietly, Duster was such a nice guy and his friend. He hoped he could someday heal Duster's leg completely. "Lucas? Thanks for listening to me. And for understanding..." Duster awkwardly put a hand on the teen's shoulder, then quickly removed it, just like his dad. "You're welcome. And thank you for listening to me Duster, it really means a lot." Lucas said quietly, putting a hand where Duster put his. Flint used to do the same thing back when... he was around. Was Duster trying to make him feel better...?

The two boys made it back to the village, each one going into a separate hut. One was the loneliest boy in the world, yet he also carried the world on his shoulders.

The other was a young man who was so lonely, yet always with his father.

"It felt nice to not be the only one..." both thought to themselves.

End *

I like to imagine a strong uncle/brotherly-like-bond between Lucas and Duster. Duster seems to be that way in the game, and it makes me like him way more. They could've made him a silent brick wall, but he's thoughtful. I also like to think since Flint has been gone, Lucas unintentionally looks up to Duster as a father figure- but not like "hey dad" but more like "is it okay if I do this/that?" And it makes Duster feel like he's holding back Lucas from being a kid. Duster finally catches on, and starts showing Lucas things his dad showed him.