3. Those things we don't speak of

When Hank entered the room short time later he found Bobby sleeping - at least he assumed the kid to be asleep as he didn't stir.
The regular deep breaths he heard shortly afterwards confirmed his guess.

And so, the youth went to bed as well feeling both pleased and relieved.

But in the middle of the night - or was it already near break of day? - Hank was awakened from sleep by something.
There, in the semi-darkness of the chamber, something was moving in front of the window.

When he looked closer he recognized Bobby, who was sitting on the window sill, apparently watching the forthcoming sunrise.

"Bobby?" he quietly addressed the youngest of the group, being anxious not to startle him too much.

Conscience-stricken, he noticed that the Barbarian winced anyway, before turning his head towards the oldest Young One to let him know he had heard him.

"Everything ok?" the Ranger continued, getting out of bed as well and crossing the room towards the window.

"Sure... I just couldn't sleep anymore. That's all..." Bobby replied. "Sorry if I woke you up..."

"Don't worry, kiddo, you didn't." Hank answered, frowning in concern at the younger boy. "Are you really sure that everything's all right?"

"Yes, Hank, I'm fine... I... I'm still a bit... um... shaken... 'cause of the poisoning." he assured him.

"Don't be ashamed of telling us if something's troubling you - no matter what it is. You can turn to one of us with your problems at any time. You know we're always there for you, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know... Thanks, Hank!" A warm-hearted smile passed over the young Barbarian's face. Hank sensed its sincerity and was reassured - slightly at least.

The Ranger nodded and peered out of the window, barely suppressing a yawn.
The past few days had been more exhausting than initially thought and they were starting to exact their toll. The lack of sleep was one of the more pleasant consequences.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna sleep a while when everything's all right so far. You should better go back to bed as well, don't you think so? You have to catch up a lot of sleep and your body requires the dormant phase." Hank directed towards Bobby again.

"Nah, I don't wanna sleep - not right now, at least - 'cause I ain't tired any longer. I'd much rather just sit here a little while and look out the window." he objected with a shake of his head.

"Ok, if you like... But as soon as you're gonna get tired once more you should lay down again. After all, there are a few more hours left till dawn... Please promise me to wake me up immediately if you need something or don't feel well!"

"I promise."

"Ok. Very well then... Good night, Bobby!" Hank nodded and went back to bed with this.

Although he didn't really like the idea of leaving the youngest alone to himself and his own thoughts all that much, he couldn't stay awake any longer for anything in the world; possibly not even when his very own life should depend on it - though it would be a completely different matter when it comes to his friends' lives, of course - but he was feeling safe here in this pub that there was no need for him to worry, for the duration of their stay at least.

As it turned out, the worries about the terminally ill boy had given them all a hard time.

A few hours later Hank woke up again. However, this time he was relaxed, sleep was a benefit.

He realized the bright daylight in their room, meaning that it was time to get up now.

The youth turned his head and peered at the Barbarian's bed but against his expectations it was empty.
At a dash Hank got out of bed, already being about to start the search for the kid when he stopped short: Bobby, still sitting on the window sill, was sound asleep - nearly in the same pose when Hank left him during the night: his knees were pulled up to his chest, his arms were wrapped around them, his head was leaned against the window.

"Poor boy! He's gotta be really finished..." the Ranger announced quietly, looking at him fondly.

Uni, who was resting at her guardian's feet beneath the sill, lifted her head.

Hank picked up the blanket and carefully covered the sleeping boy.
He then turned around and gazed down at their pet.

"You're gonna take care of him, aren't you?" he muttered more to himself than to her.

Her ears were moving constantly, like small satellites, while she was watching him with wide, attentive eyes.

Not for the first time, the Ranger wondered how much of this was actually comprehended by the little unicorn, how much she and Bobby really mean to each other and if there even was a non-verbal communication between the two of them.
The Cavalier might call her 'stupid', but sometimes Hank himself had certain doubts about it.

He eventually left the bedroom.

The other Young Ones were up as well. They already got together in the lounge of the pub.
The innkeeper's wife was serving them breakfast just then.

"Hey Hank." Diana greeted when they caught sight of him.

"Good morning, guys." the leader greeted back and sat down next to Presto.
"Bobby's still sleeping. The poor guy woke up at night and fell asleep in front of the window... I didn't have the heart to wake him now. That's why I let him sleep on." he explained to Sheila, as she looked at him with a questioning look.

The girl nodded sympathetically.

So they started to have breakfast without Bobby.
They nearly had finished eating when the young Barbarian showed up in the lounge as well.
He was wearing his now dried familiar outfit again.

"Morning." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes still a bit drowsy, and took a seat beside the Acrobat on a bench.

"Ah, our Sleeping Beauty has finally been awakened from his deep slumber as well. Hope ye had a good rest."

"Eric!" Sheila admonished him, after a quick scrutinizing look at her brother.

"What? That was only meant to be a casual greeting - although ambiguous, I admit. You know, it's just like saying 'hello' in a different and more creative way...
Jeez, have you all lost your sense of humor lately?" Eric said shrugging.

"Not exactly, but I think that particular joke was a cheap shot nonetheless." Hank stepped in reassuringly, already expecting new trouble.

And he proved to be right after all: this time the youngest didn't back off as he had done once already on the evening before.

"Just leave me alone, Er-ic!" Bobby snarled, being wide awake now.

"Ohhh, are we in a bad mood today?"

"As long as I'm forced to endure your presence..."

"You don't really expect that I always have to keep myself informed about your current state of mind at first before I'm allowed to do or say something which might be offending you or spoiling your mood otherwise, do you? You've gotta be kidding! I don't need anybody telling me how to be or behave - least of all you!" the Cavalier retorted condescendingly and raised an eyebrow.

Bobby glanced at the older boy for a moment, lips curled to a sneer.
"Well, I'd really love to see what it would have been like for you after eating these fruits. I'm quite sure even you ain't gonna talk big any more after that." he scoffed.

"Yeah right, as if that would ever happen! 'cause I just ain't so stupid to eat some berries I don't even recognize, in the first place. Besides, everyone knows that things with such a remarkable color can't be anything else than poisonous. The fly agaric - often commonly known as a 'toadstool', for your information - is a very good example for this rule as well. But it's quite obvious to me that the knowledge about this whole thing has passed you by completely... I've known all along that there's a mental vacuum beneath your helmet!" Eric shot back right away.

"Hey! Take that back, Cavalier!"

"Why should I, fearless Barbarian? That's the absolute truth, after all!"

"Oh really? Ain't you the one who tends to bend the truth every now and then?"

"And what exactly do you wanna tell me with that?"

"Aw come on! Who was the one, being so stupid to smell at a flower whose dust had a transforming effect, again? What did Dungeon Master tell us about it shortly before? 'watch out for the good that spits out the bad' - or something like that. And now, guess who didn't pay attention to this more than obvious warning! Well, you were doing very well as a bogbeast, anyway."

"So, what else is new? Everybody here has already had a good laugh about me being a bogbeast, after all. And if I remember correctly, you haven't been a non-participant in this matter, as often as you rehash that over and over again. I'll tell you something: it's getting awfully boring after a while...
by the way, what does this have anything to do with your 'truth' now? 'cause I absolutely don't see any possible connection between that and what you've just said...
Well, I mean, after all, you've been a much more 'interesting' sight than me as a bogeast, weeping like that... Aww, such a picture of misery you were!
Stubbornly demonstrating us all the time how already 'grown up' he claims to be, but yet cried his very eyes out like a baby...
If you ask me you are and still will remain just a little kid to me. What do you think about it, Barby?"

Suddenly the youngest jumped to his feet, eyes narrowed to slits, raising his Club. "I ain't a little kid any more, got that? I'll show you..." he hissed threateningly.

But before Bobby unflinchingly could take another step towards Eric, Hank intervened.

He seized the angry Barbarian by his arm and pulled him back a bit.

"This ends right now! It's enough, you hear? I'm at the end of my patience with the two of you. I don't mind if you're gonna get out of the other boy's way as far as possible here in the Realms and ignore and don't talk to one another for a while or whatever - but stop fighting about even the slightest ridiculous reasons and insulting and also goading each other on top of that, for heaven's sake! I'm completely serious about it!"

Bewildered by the harsh tone of his beloved leader, the boy stared at the Ranger, open-mouthed.

Hank really gotta be serious since he never had been that strict with him, Bobby thought to himself.

But Eric definitely hadn't the right to treat him so condescendingly, only because the Cavalier can't stand him that much - and in addition to that he was also the youngest among them. It just wasn't fair! As if it was his own fault that he simply was a few years younger than the others...

As he absolutely didn't like - and even less wasn't used to - being snapped at by Hank, Bobby slowly lowered his Club, though his eyes were still fixed on Eric relentlessly.

"Aw, let's go already to this keeper!" the Magician pressed and rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed.

The other Young Ones shared Presto's opinion, more or less.
Their impatience with the two of them was steadily growing as well.
By now, they all were sick and tired of being compelled to put up with the ongoing quarrels between Eric and Bobby.

Their persistent arguments implied that not even the return from the dead had some positive effects on the relationship of the two boys, but rather the exact opposite was the case: it was only getting all the worse with them as a result.

Was the increased argumentativeness of the already very easily irritable Barbarian perhaps an unpleasant aftermath of the poisoning?

"That's perfectly fine with me. The sooner I get away from here the better." Eric announced, glaring directly at Bobby, who got himself into another retort once again, like so many times before.

"Right! You'd really do us all a big favor with that. I'd be very glad about it, that is." he pointed out defiantly through gritted teeth.

"Great, looks like you two at least agree on one thing." Diana commented wryly, trying to avoid an escalation of this nasty conflict. "Very well then. Let's go, guys."

So the Young Ones gave their thanks for the more than kind hospitality and said their goodbyes to the innkeepers. They then set off to the place Green Mountains.

Bobby cheered up again the closer they got to the village. His dark thoughts and the trouble with Eric were all blown away by the pleasant anticipation of home. He faintly smiled to himself, mentally already back in his familiar surroundings.
However, his sister's timid voice yanked him back to reality again.

"Look, there's the village!"

When catching sight of the place ahead of them, they didn't happily rush to it but stopped dead instead.

A/N:

If you were wondering why exactly Eric called Bobby 'Barby' (except for teasing him, of course) it's actually not because of the famous doll of the same name many kids (including me, and mostly girls I would assume) grew up with but rather as a fusion of his real name and his title/nickname.
Besides, Barby is a Diminutive of the female name Barbara which originated from the Greek word 'barbaros' meaning strange/foreign or stranger/foreigner, ironically also translates into barbarian...

and as to why Bobby wasn't feeling insulted by this rather female name but for being regarded as a little kid, maybe he knows about the meaning of his name/title after all ;)