Dragon Hunters, Meet Ghost Hunters!
Ok, here's the usual legal rigamarole: I do not own any part of Dragon Hunters, nor do I own any part or even know any of the Ghost Adventurers. This is strictly a work of fiction, a mess from my poor bored brain!
Gwizdo picked up the gourd brimming with cool spring water. He gulped down the lot, then refilled it but instead of drinking he lifted it up and poured it over his head. Giving it a hard shake and rubbing his brown hair back from his eyes he replaced the dipper and turned back to the site he and Lain-Chu had been working on all morning. He paused at one point, stared mournfully at a large rock in his way, then hefted it up to carry it over to the small wooden cart nearby and dumped it in.
"Phew!" He leaned against the cart as if he had just toted a rock the size of his own small body. "Just what IS it with people dat they insist on doin' such hot woik in da summer?" he moaned.
Lian-Chu had an easier time of it, being much stronger. "In the winter the ground is frozen. In spring it is too wet." He reasoned. "The fall is too busy with harvesting so.."
"All right all right! Quit wi' da sermon already! It was just a rhetorical question!" Gwizdo turned his attention to the ground and shovel.
"'Rhetorical'?" Lian-Chu paused. "Gwizdo, what does 'rhetorical' mean?"
Gwizdo sighed inwardly. Even though he loved the big lug and thought of him as a brother there were times when he wished he had just a bit less muscle and more brains. "It means a question that wasn't meant to be answered"
"Then why would anyone ask a question if they did not wish it to be answered?"
"I dunno, just talkin', I guess. Here's anudder question, one I wish I –would- get an answer for! Why did Jeanline suddenly decide this yard should be leveled anyway? It was fine the way it was!"
"She wishes to expand the inn by adding another room." Lian-Chu effortlessly took two armfuls of huge rocks to the cart. "And since she offered to remove half the rent we owe if we cleared it…"
"Well, I ain't woikin' on buildin' no room! That's a job for a carpenter, not a dragon hunter! Oh why were we brought down to such a level? –Other- dragon hunters don't hafta worry about doin' such stupid side jobs!" He grunted as he tried to push the shovel edge into the hard packed earth.
"Try to look positive on this, Gwizdo! It is helping us develop better muscles!" Lian-Chu didn't need to bulge any of his muscles to show off his great physic. They seemed to be present even when at rest and his shirtless body caused them to ripple each time he lifted the pick.
Gwizdo, also shirtless but with a much more slighter build, gave him a sideways look accompanied by a slight 'hmph.' Although his envy of his friend's larger build rarely came to the surface it was times like these that made him wish that, for once, he could have just a few more muscles himself. "What good will better muscles be if we get stricken with heat stroke?" he snapped.
"It takes a bit of work to get to that state and so you haff nothing to verry about in that score, Gwizdo!" the owner of the inn snapped. She had come around to see what progress was being made. "Lian-Chu has done more vork since this morning than two men! Vat haff you gotten accomplished?"
"Look, I cleared this patch right here! See it? All this!" Gwizdo angrily swept his arm at the twenty square feet of cleared ground. "And it's all in the sun too, I hope you notice! Lian-Chu's woikin' in the cool shady area!"
His friend stopped and looked over. "Oh Gwizdo! I am sory! I didn't realize! We will change places…"
"Nah nah, I'll get it done. And when I collapse I hope you'll have the presence of mind to not step on me as you make your way back inside!" Gwizdo turned his attention back to the stone he had been digging about and trying to dislodge. He grunted at the effort. "Mebbe you can even…Umph!...turn dis stone here into my headstone for my grave!"
Jeanline's face grew a bit more tender as she looked at the toiling duo. "Actually I came out here to offer you some nice cold lemonade, seeing how you're both vorking so hard!"
The offer was eagerly accepted and when Jeanline went back inside the dragon hunters sat under the largest shade tree to enjoy the cold treat.
"Y'know, Big Guy? Sometimes I think she ain't so bad after all." Gwizdo was alternating drinking from the pewter mug and then placing the cold metal against the back of his neck to cool off.
"She does think of ways to make work easier," Lian-Chu agreed.
"But why does she want us to woik in the hot summer sun? Even Hector knows better than dat!"
It was true, Hector at that moment was snoozing in the depths of a small ditch he had dug in the shade of the inn. Being a dragon didn't mean the sun didn't get to him also!
The break finished (by Jeanline's shouting at them from the kitchen window) they went back to work. Gwizdo once again struggled with the stubborn stone.
"Lian-Chu, I can't get this thing to move an inch! Would you mind..?"
Lian-Chui immediately came over. "Let me see…" He hooked the point of his pick axe and one-handedly lifted the edge of the stone up. Gwizdo felt a bit disgruntled at the motion.
"You didn't hafta make it look –that- easy!" he complained. "Ok, ya started it for me. Thanks."
"You are sure you do not wish for me to take it all the way out?"
"No no I can handle it from here! Thanks." Gwizdo stabbed the ground under the edge of the rock as Lian-Chu rather dubiously turned away. Gritting his teeth he shoved down with all of his strength. "C'mon! C'mon you…rotten….useless…blasted…"
The wood of the handle shook under the strain then suddenly the shovel shot down and the stubborn stone shot upwards. It was such an unexpected move that Gwizdo did a face dive into the dirt at the same time, both meeting halfway!
"YeeeOOOWW!" Gwizdo sat back on his rear holding his nose with both hands. Eyes squinting in pain he proceeded to turn the air blue with all the curses he remembered. Some were understandable while most was garbled as his hands tried to stem the flow of blood.
"Gwizdo!" Lian-Chu immediately dropped his tools and raced over. "Are you all right? Gwizdo! What happened?"
Kneeling down besides his friend he saw with alarm that the bleeding had increased. It dripped from Gwido's hands in a steady rate.
"By dose! By dose! It boke by dose!" Gwizdo still had his eyes squeezed shut and he rocked back and forth in pain. "Stupid rock! Smash it to rubble! Trow it ind somb deep lake! Ow wow o wow o wow ooo.." His complaints ended in whimpers as Lian-Chu gathered him up in his arms to take him inside.
"Vot is going on now? You haven't finished already, haff…oh dear!" Jeanlinne's face went from annoyance to shock as she caught sight of Gwizdo's bloodied hands. "Here, set him right here. I'll go get some vater! Zaza! Ve need some clean cloths! Hurry!"
Lian-Chu set his friend down on the countertop and tried to pull his hands away but he was not co-operating. "Let us see, Gwizdo."
"It hurts it hurts it hurts!" the small pilot whimpered, his voice growing higher and fainter with each phrase.
"Yes, I know it does. Put your hands down, please!" Lian-Chu gently but firmly grasped Gwizdo's hands and pulled them away from his face. Gwizdo's nose was swelling and blood still dripped from it . "It doesn't look too serious."
"Dondt look serious? I just had by face sbashed id!"
"Let me see." Jeanlinne pushed Lian-Chu aside and took Gwizdo's face with both hands as she studied the damage. "Um hmmm, you just broke your nose, I think. Here, let's get you cleaned up." She took a cloth from the basin of warm water Zaza brought in and started to wipe away the blood. Gwizdo flinched. "Oh be still now!"
"It hurts…" he whimpered again, his eyes still screwed shut.
"Yes but it looks vorse than it really is. Oh you are a mess, to be sure!" She rinsed out the cloth again then wiped away the blood from his chin and chest. "Oh dear, vash your hands as well before you get handprints all over!"
"Are you going to bandage his face, Moma?" Zaza asked from the doorway. It seemed logical to ask, as every wound she had ever seen had been wrapped up. But how does one wrap up a nose?
"No dear, Gwizdo will just have to lie back for a while with a cold wet cloth on his face. He'll be fine."
So they settled the pilot back on his bed with the mentioned face cloth. He would have appreciated the rest but for the pain. Gwizdo had never been one for pain tolerance. He gingerly tried to hold his nose to block the throbbing but it had now grown too tender. All he could do was sit back and complain.
"Why couddn't she be happy with the inn as id is?" he grumbled to Hector. "It was big eduff! But dooooh! She –had- to get greedy! Get a bigger roomb! Cram more people id! And I had to suffer wit' da result! Ow!"
Hector held up a damp cloth he had just wrung out. "Gizdo need new bandage? For snoot boo-boo?"
Gwizdo snatched it away. "Gibbe that! And id ain't a 'snoot', furface, id's a dose! Ow ow ow ow!" He carefully set it on his face, lieing back and flinging the used one down.
It took a couple of days for the swelling to go down and he felt well enough to get back to the regular pace. His nose was still discolored but it was usable and Gwizdo could once more pronounce words so the others understood him. Joining the others at a table for breakfast he picked up a sausage and bit into it. "So, everything got cleared yet without me?"
Lian-Chu, Jeannline and Zaza all looked at each other without speaking. Gwizdo noticed this in mid-bite and stared at them. "What? What happened? Did a chunk of the island fall off?"
"We found…something rather strange after we put you up in the bedroom." Lian-Chu said slowly. "And we are not quite sure what to do about it."
"Strange? What's strange? How strange? Dis I gotta see!" Gwizdo stuffed the rest of the sausage in his mouth and hopped down from the table. He took a few steps then paused and looked back. "Ah…it isn't anything…dangerous,..is it?"
Lian-Chu was following along and he shook his head. "No. It is just strange."
"Ah. Well then, strange I can handle! C'mon, Lian-Chu. Show me this strange thing you're all worried about!"
They walked out beside the newly cleared path. Up ahead Gwizdo caught side of an odd shape sticking out of the spot where he had had the accident. "What is that? You set up a monument or somethin'?"
"It is a monument," Lian-Chu answered. "But it was already there. I lifted the stone up and saw it had writing on it. I had to ask Jeannline what it was."
"Hmmmm." Gwizdo stopped at the stone and studied it for a few minutes. "Uh huh….yeah, it's writin' all right but I can't make it out. Dis here looks like it could be somebody's name and dese two lines here could be dates and…" Suddenly his eyes widened in alarm and he stepped back. "Geez! It's..it's a gravestone! What's it doin' here? Jeanlinne, you never said anythin' about a grave bein' here!"
"I did not know one vas here. Can you read it? I do not know the letters."
Gwizdo eyed the stone, not really wanting to get any closer but his own curiosity had been aroused as well so he edged closer to look at the carvings. After a few minutes he shook his head and stepped back. "I never saw any letters like that before either. It must be some sort of ancient language. So what are you going to do, leave it here and build your new room around it?"
"I think those plans have to be dropped. After I moved the stone I saw what was underneath." Lian-Chu gestured down and Gwizdo followed his hand to the dirt around his feet. To the smaller man's horror he saw white bones poking out from the dirt.
"Yiieeee!" Leaping up into Lian-Chu's arms he stared down. "Those are…are…BONES!" he gulped.
"Yes, and we have found more of them about." Lian-Chu turned around slowly so Gwizdo could see similar stones near the first one. "I believe this was once a small cemetery."
"Ya mean all this time we've been trampsin' about over peoples' BODIES!" Gwizdo looked wildly at the ground as if he expected the dead to rise up all at once. He shuddered.
Hector looked up at him with a puzzled look. There wasn't anything to get excited about, as far as he was concerned. He bent down to scratch a little in the dirt and it wasn't long before he uncovered a bone himself. He wrenched it out of the ground, sniffed it, licked it, considered the taste, then sat down to enjoy a bit of gnawing. "Mmmm! Bone yummy!"
"Lian-Chu noticed what the small blue dragon was doing and quickly retrieved the bone. "No, Hector! This isn't a soup bone, it's a human bone! You can't chew on this!"
"Soup bone people bone, what different?" Hector shrugged. "All bones taste same!"
"Ya don't just go around chewing bones that were once people!" Gwizdo glowered down. "It's….disrepectful!"
Hector shrugged again. "What? They no care. They dead!"
Jeanline put her hands on her hips and looked about the cleared plot. "Vell, I guess I have to put the expanding on hold for a vhile, until I think of vat to do vith this place." Sighing, she turned to head back intothe inn. Lian-Chu turned to follow.
"Dis is gonna give me nightmares!" Gwizdo muttered. "No! Don't set me down just yet, Lian-Chu! Make sure we're not over some grave first!"
