Yo!
So I'm going overseas in a few days, and thought if i didn't upload now I never would.
Thanks to all who reviewed and story alerted. It means a lot to me :)
"So…you're a guy…"
After a night at the inn, Kaito and Len left to continue on their journey. Well, Kaito did. Len's just tagging along because he has nowhere else to go. They had been walking lazily at a sluggish pace through a forest and now it was approaching midday.
"Yeah, so what?"
"N-nothing, it's just why didn't you say so before?"
"There was no need to tell you."
An unsettling silence followed. Kaito was leading his horse while Len walked beside him. Underfoot, leaves crunched noisily but otherwise it was eerily quiet. Rays of sunlight filtered through the green foliage, leaving dapples of light on the forest floor.
"It's getting pretty warm," Kaito broke the silence. "Let's stop for a rest."
Relaxing under the shade of a large fig tree, despite the beautiful natural scenery, Kaito couldn't help by feel unsettled by Len, who was nonchalantly gazing into space, ignoring him. It felt worse than lonely. It was downright awkward.
"So…" Kaito feebly attempted to start a conversation. Len looked back at him, seeing his multicoloured eyes made Kaito flinch.
"What?" Len demanded harshly.
"Um…about yesterday…do you remember anything? What was the last thing you remember?"
Len put on a thoughtful look. "Mm…I grabbed the bauble, there was a…staff, I think…and…that's it."
"That's it?"
"Yep, that's it. Oh!" his eyes suddenly lit up. "I still have it!" saying so, he reached around his neck and took off the bauble. It remained unscathed from the traumatic events of the day before. It was a clear orb, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and was unmarked save for some carved letters. "Len…is that my name?"
"Looks like it."
"Hm…" he frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Mm, it's just I don't really know who I am. I've never seen my parents, and I didn't even know my name until now. This bauble was supposed to be their last gift to me, that's why it's so important to me."
"I see…"
A thoughtful silence passed by. Then Kaito remembered another item of mysterious origin from the day before. "What about the staff?"
"Mm, from what I remember, it came from the bauble."
Kaito's eyes widened. "What? From that little thing?"
Len grew annoyed. "What? Can't it happen? It happened yesterday. I'll do it again."
He closed his eyes, concentrated really hard and then grabbed the bauble. It shone white, then materialised into a golden staff in front of an amazed Kaito.
"Hah! I did it!" Len waved it around triumphantly.
"Wait, don't do that!" Kaito put his hands over his head, preparing for some massive earthquake or something, but nothing happened.
"What are you doing? Get up. You look silly."
Seeing as the scenery was still in one piece, Kaito begrudgingly stood up with a red face.
"Let's go~, we're done resting!" Evidently, proving Kaito wrong had put Len in a good mood. He sauntered in front, waving around the staff. Kaito trudged behind with the horse.
After a few hours' walk, Len stopped.
"What's wrong?" Kaito demanded.
"Shush, there are people in front, they'll hear you."
Kaito came up and looked. There was a small clearing where twenty or so men were eating, drinking and partying. One of them noticed him, stood up and approached the pair and their horse.
"Look here! Travellers!" he called, earning many inquisitive looks from the other men. The extra attention annoyed Len. Didn't he tell Kaito to be quiet so they wouldn't be noticed?
"Come! Come! It's getting late, you can camp with us!" Kaito accepted the invitation gratefully while Len's previously happy mood had evaporated to be replaced with annoyance.
"Everyone, we have company!" the announcement was met with hearty cheers from the rest of the men. Kaito easily fit in: eating, drinking and conversing with the others.
"So, Kaito, what brings you here?" without giving Kaito a chance to reply the man went on, "We have been searching for a magical spring!"
"Oh, magic?" Kaito's face was turning red from drinking.
"Yes, yes! A magical spring! And when we find it, we're going to build a hotel here! In this forest!"
"Wow! A hotel in a forest! Sounds like a great idea!"
"Haha! I know right!" the man took another gulp of alcohol, then dropped down drunk.
"Hah, what a funny man!" Kaito laughed then approached another one. "Hey there, tell me about this magic spring you're looking for!"
"Ah, you're that traveller." The man was much older, and sober. "Yes, you must have heard from the others. We've been looking for a magic spring, and we believe we've found it."
"Really?"
"Yes, that's right. But…"
"But?"
"Well, we know where it is, but we can't uncover it."
"What do you mean?"
At this moment, Len, who had been sitting by himself, playing with his staff and being unsocial, decided to come over and bother Kaito. "Oi, I'm bored."
"Len, I'm busy. And my name's not 'Oi', it's Kaito."
This further pissed off Len. "Hmph, whatever. I'm going for a walk then."
Once he had left, Kaito turned back to the man. "Sorry about that, he's a bit of a brat. Please continue."
"Ah, that kid should be careful. A forest at night is dangerous."
"I'm sure he'll be fine."
Len had walked a fair distance away where the sounds from the camp could not be heard anymore.
"He's not coming after me. What a jerk. It's not like I wanted to follow him in the first place. He should be more responsible."
He trudged onwards. Even at night the forest was silent. There were no animal sounds at all. Only the steady crunch of leaves underfoot as he tread on.
"Hm, what's that? A house?"
In the distance, the trees cleared, leaving room for a large mansion. There was not a light on, it looked abandoned.
"What's a house doing in the middle of a forest?"
Curiosity led him on, past the grotesque silhouettes of bare trees and up to its dusty front door. He pushed it and it opened with a creak. Stepping inside, the first thing he noticed was how dark and dirty the place was. Cobwebs gathered in every corner, and the tables and chairs were coated in a thick layer of dust.
The next thing he felt was the presence of something, but when he looked back there was nobody there. Suddenly there was movement. He jumped and dropped the staff. From the moonlight flooding in from the doorway he saw a large shadow, being cast from a figure above the doorway.
He looked up and didn't even have time to scream.
Kaito was intrigued by the story. "So you know where the spring is, but you can't get to it?"
"That is correct. Some way ahead there is an abandoned mansion. Our sources say the spring should be around there. The easiest method is, of course, to get rid of the building. It's falling apart and nobody lives there anyway."
Kaito nodded, "Yes, go on."
"But whenever one of our men goes near, something strange happens."
"Strange? Like what?"
"Well, one time a group who went early in the morning came back paralysed, another died of poison. Then the first few times someone went in to investigate, they never came back. We don't go near anymore but we don't know what to do. It's very important we find the spring as we were ordered to by the king. So we can only sit here and plan. Lately some of the younger ones think it's a holiday. They're partying every night and our supplies are running out."
"I see." Kaito had sobered after hearing the tale and now got up. "I'm going to look for Len."
"Be careful."
"Thank you. I will."
The conversation had caused Kaito to worry. I hope Len's alright. It seemed only natural he was subconsciously searching for the mansion, and it wasn't long when he found it.
God, that place looks creepy.
The front door was wide open. Something glimmered inside. Kaito gulped. He ran straight for it. As he bent down, he saw it was clear, it was round, and it had Len's name engraved on it.
thank you for reading :3
