Days had passed and still nothing. Still no sign of Lucas or the Masked Man.
Duster sighed as he came into view of Tazmily. At least he still knew where to find this place- although all the changes- the missing flowers and the emptiness and the lack of people made him wonder sometimes.
Maybe some of that came out into his sigh- or maybe Kumatora could read minds. She turned to him.
The look she gave him was a lot different from her usual ones- a lot softer- like she understood. Actually, she probably did understand. Even though she hadn't lived in the village with him and Lucas, she'd been losing people, the Magypsies, the only family she'd ever known, ever since the whole thing with the Needles had started.
But there was a difference between loosing something and something being twisted almost beyond recognition…
Duster pushed the pain and the thoughts away- focused on the now.
He pasted on a smile for Kumatora- she didn't fall for it, but she nodded- and the two of them entered the town.
The town square was empty- not even Mapson was there anymore.
Each of their footsteps seemed to echo- a hollow sound, like a rock thrown against a tomb.
They paused in the middle of the square.
"Where to now, Duster? Should we look for your dad first, or Lucas's grandpa?"
Before Duster could decide, they heard barking.
He and Kumatora turned to see Boney dashing towards them from the direction of Lucas's house.
The dog dashed around them- sniffing- seeming to be looking for Lucas- before stopping in front of them. He gave a soft little whine before picking himself up and dashing off in the direction he'd come from, and then turned around and barked at them until they followed.
Alec and Wess were waiting in front of the house- they must've figured that someone was coming by the way Boney was acting, because they were waiting for them.
Duster could see equal amounts of worry and relief in his father's eyes and large amounts of worry mixed with a bit of relief in Alec's eyes.
"No sign of Lucas?" Wess asked.
Duster shook his head.
"He's a tough kid- he'll be fine. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any sign of him either."
"What I don't understand." Alec said, his eyes boring into them, "is why Lucas was captured in the first place. What have you guys been up to?"
Duster and Kumatora exchanged looks.
"Uh…"
"It's complicated." Duster said apologetically to Alec, then turned back to Kumatora. "You're the one who spent the most time with the Magypsies, so you should be able to explain it best."
Kumatora sighed even as she nodded, then stepped forward and faced the two older men. "Okay, it's like this-"
OoOoOo
"So, other than this mysterious Masked Man, Lucas is the only one with the ability to pull these Needles, eh?" Wess asked with a smile. "Well, the kid wouldn't be my pick for hero, but at the same time, I can't think of anyone better. If it weren't for the fact that he's captured, I could rest easy."
"We just gotta find him." Kumatora insisted.
"Easier said than done Princess." Wess said, turning grave again. "The training facility, the factory, even that chimera research place- they've all been shut down. Nobody there at all. Where do you suggest we look now?"
"Well, these pig jerks have been here for three years- they must have a secret base somewhere! If we search for it, we should be able to find it!"
Duster turned to look at Alec, who still hadn't said anything- he found him turned away from the others, staring into the distance, in the direction of the Temple…the place where they'd fought the Masked Man- the last place they'd seen Lucas-
He'd looked so small then- high above the ground-
"This "Masked Man" -" Alec spoke, then turned to face them- looking first at Duster, then at Kumatora, then back again. "You haven't seen his face?"
They both shook their heads.
"Haven't seen his face, haven't heard his voice, don't even know his name. Guy's a real mystery."
Duster nodded in agreement.
"I see…Boney, I know that sometimes you can use your strong sense of smell to discover things…did you find out anything about him?"
Boney whined.
"He says he couldn't smell anything but some super strong cleaning chemicals and the Pigmasks around us sweating like crazy." Kumatora translated. "They smelled pretty funky to us too, right Duster?"
"Right." Duster agreed, wondering why the older man was so fixated on that, asking so many questions about the Masked Man-
"About how old would you say he is?" Alec pressed.
Duster shrugged. "With that helmet, it's hard to tell- he wasn't very tall though-"
"Shorter than me." Kumatora added.
"-so actually, he might not be that old." Duster finished. Something about that thought seemed worrisome… but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Before he could figure it out, Alec sighed.
"That so, huh?" he turned away again. "You're probably wondering where Flint is- I wish I knew. He spends all of his time searching for Claus in the mountains- only coming back to visit Hinawa's grave. Occasionally, he'll check in on Lucas…but once Lucas told me the only sure way he had of making sure he got to see his father was to camp out at Hinawa's grave…" Alec sighed and turned back to look at the others. "Boney and I searched all over the mountains with no sign of him. Maybe he decided to search somewhere else- I don't know. But we couldn't find him."
Boney whined.
Kumatora growled softly- a tone more sad than angry. Duster thought he might've heard her mumble something under her breath, but he wasn't sure- and if she wasn't going to say it loud enough for everybody to hear, he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to ask her to repeat it.
"…Claus was reckless, but he wasn't cruel." Alec said, looking straight at her. "He never would've stayed away for long- something must've happened- something must have kept him from coming home."
Duster nodded. "We know Alec." Something like death, was the thought that came to mind, but Duster wasn't going to say that out loud. Thinking it was bad enough- for a moment, Duster shut his eyes- tried not to remember how things had used to be-
Coming back from a training trip, his dad leading the way- everyone in the square turning and smiling at them- cheerful welcomes that echoed off the walls- Flint tipping his hat with one hand as he carried a bucket full of dirt with the other- walking over to Hinawa, who was standing up next to the new flowerbed, one bloom that still wasn't planted in her hand- Claus and Lucas turning at the same time, lifting their heads from the butterfly currently perched on Lucas's open hands-
The sound of his dad sighing made him open his eyes again.
The older man was folding his arms and turning away from the rest of the group. Duster knew that- if asked- his dad would claim to just be trying to think of a way out of the mess that they were in. But he also knew his dad was more softhearted than he wanted people to know- not that he was really softhearted- he could be harsh, sometimes extremely harsh (Duster tried not to wince at the memory of some of his bigger mistakes)- but that didn't mean that Wess didn't care.
"He's right Alec, we all know that. Even the Princess can figure that out, just by having traveled with Lucas. The two of them may have been different, but they weren't that different."
Alec muttered something- Duster couldn't make it out.
Then there was silence for a moment- everyone lost in their own thoughts- until Kumatora stomped her foot. "Guys, we need to stop talking and do something!"
"And what do you propose that we do, Princess?" Sarcasm coated the question like honey, but it was a question.
Kumatora glared half-heartedly. "We're just going to have to keep looking until we find Lucas, that's all!" she spun to face Duster. "Hey, remember that weird place we found?"
Duster nodded.
"Let's head back there and search it some more. With that weird reaction you had to it, it must be something important! If we go back and check it out again, search it more thoroughly, we might find something- who knows, maybe it's an old Pigmask base, and they'll have left some maps lying around that will tell us where to find their other bases!"
"It's worth a try." Duster agreed. "With no other leads, we might as well go check it out." He ignored the voice inside of him that was insisting that it wasn't a Pigmask base, it wasn't. At this point, it didn't matter. Kumatora was right- standing around and talking wouldn't help Lucas- or the rest of his family- at all.
On the other hand, retracing their steps had a chance of accomplishing something.
"Okay!" Kumatora spun to face Alec and Wess again. "We're off again- Boney, you come and get us if you guys find anything out, okay?"
Boney barked.
"Be careful." Alec said soberly.
Duster nodded, then turned to face Wess.
He was frowning- almost like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to say it. But that couldn't be it, could it? Wess never let hesitation interfere with anything he wanted to say...
"Dad?" Duster asked tentatively.
Wess, still frowning, looked up at him. "Duster- have you ever- well…had a dream…where you were…argh! Forget it. Take care of the Princess, you hear? And - take care of yourself too."
"I will, Dad- on both accounts." Duster promised fondly- if a bit confused and wondering what his dad had been about to say.
"We're off!" Kumatora announced, fist pumping the air.
"Come back safely."
They nodded- and they turned and left.
Silent in their leaving, they returned to the path that led to the village… past where the well had been...stepping past it, thinking of his father, the man he'd been missing without remembering for three years- wondering what it was that he had wanted to tell him but hadn't said- maybe he'd just wanted to tell him that he loved him?- he'd always had problems saying it- always-
Duster felt a ringing in his ears- shook his head, trying to get rid of it- from far away, he thought he heard Kumatora calling his name-
"You guys are going to dig the well here? How far down are you going to dig it?"
"As deep as we need to." the dark haired man said, hefting his shovel- the cowboy hat was tilted forward, in an attempt to keep the sun from his eyes.
"Hey kid." the hand descended on his head gently, causing him to look up. "Watch the princess for me- make sure she doesn't get into any trouble, alright?"
"Yes sir."
The man ruffled his hair before leaving to join the man with the cowboy hat in digging the well.
He smiled down at the baby in his arms. "This village is going to be really cool- it'll be even better than the place we lived before! Just wait and see!"
Green eyes blinked up at him, giggling- not recognizing his words but recognizing the fact that he was speaking to her- she reached up and tried to grab his nose again.
"Hey quit it." he said fondly, moving his head just to be safe. "You're stubborn, aren't you? But that's good- that means you'll keep going, even when things get hard- that's a good thing. And for you and me- orphans, both of us- things'll be hard for a while…do you miss your parents, baby? I miss mine…but we're in a place like this, with nice people like this, so we'll be okay… yeah, we'll be okay."
Once again, a punch to the face brought him out of it- landing in the dust on his rear end, Duster blinked dazedly up at Kumatora.
The naked fear on her face scared him more than three Pigmask tanks coming at him at the same time. "What is it?" he asked, scrambling to his feet.
"What is it?" she repeated in disbelief. "You tell me! You blacked out again- and then you started talking to yourself and to people who weren't there-what's wrong with you?"
Duster stared at her, then at where the well had been, then back at her. He shook his head- trying to clear it- placed one hand on his head, trying to think.
"…was it a memory?" he asked himself.
"…what?"
"I was a child- and Flint and my dad were digging the well that used to be there." he gestured to its former position, then turned back to her. "And I was holding a green-eyed baby…that my dad called "princess" …"
Kumatora stared at him.
Duster shrugged.
"…Doria told me that my mom went to them to give birth to me- to make sure that I was born healthy and strong- and then she left me with them and I never left them until three years ago-"
"How'd you know my dad then?"
"He visited me a couple times when I was living with Ionia… are you sure you weren't dreaming?"
Duster shook his head. "I don't know what that was- but I've never had a dream that vivid- that intense. Whatever it was, it wasn't a dream."
"…was it the same as what happened back in that abandoned place?"
Duster nodded. "It sure felt the same…"
"Then we need to get back there as fast as we can! What if it happens again? What if it happens while we're in a fight?"
"Good point." Duster agreed uneasily. He hadn't thought about that- that would most likely not end well.
"Come on then, let's go!" still obviously worried, Kumatora grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the ghost town.
OoOoOo
Someone needs to tell Kumatora that punching people isn't exactly the best way to snap people out of it.
And I leave tomorrow, why am I posting now? Hope I didn't rush this chapter too much...
