"We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement."
― Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund
Two hours after sundown, the Demon Hunter observed Lyndon sauntering back into the hidden camp. He had been gone since late afternoon, and he looked quite pleased with himself. Jack had no questions as to how the man had spent his free time. Women. Drink. Theft. Whatever else. Lyndon was careless, irresponsible, greedy, perverted and sometimes Jack wondered why he tolerated the man at all. And yet... how was it that Lyndon's smile came so easily when his own almost never shown on his face? Lyndon did not have an easy life, but his life view was more optimistic than most.
It was... puzzling.
The scoundrel came up behind their new companion Eirena, who was showing Leah and Kala some examples of her magical skill. "Good evening ladies, oh! Are you doing magic? I can do magic too!" Lyndon said confidently, and, quicker than blinking, he moved his hand to Leah's ear and snapped his fingers. She jumped and glared at him, but an apple had appeared in his hand, seemingly taken from thin air.
"No wonder you ignore all my compliments, you couldn't hear them with this stuffed in your ear!" He teased, and placed it into her open palm.
Leah giggled despite herself, "How did you do that?" She asked, interested. Lyndon grinned crookedly at her.
"Magic." He said cryptically, then repeated the trick with Eirena, who smiled and thanked him, and Kala, who accepted the fruit from him hesitantly with a nervous glance.
"That is not magic Lyndon, that is merely slight of hand." Eirena corrected him, before taking a bite of her apple.
"Oh I know, I'm very good with my hands." He leered. Causing Leah to slap him on the arm in irritation, "Ow! You're not very friendly !" He shouted with fake hurt but, ever persistent, a smile crept back onto his face.
Jack almost smiled, Lyndon was utterly ridiculous. The hunter was confused by how carefree he seemed to be most of the time, how uncaring he was of the danger around them. He was relentless in his antics to get girls to like him. How could he smile and engage in so much nonsense in the face of all that lay in wait for them? Jack was not used to someone who acted like that. That kind of lackadaisical behavior was completely foreign to him. The only one who had ever smiled on a regular basis in the Demon Hunter settlement in the Dreadlands, had been his mentor Josen. Everyone else was just about as grim as he was.
Worse even...
"How about this then?" Lyndon said, rudely seating himself in between Leah and Eirena and pulling out a deck of cards. Jack watching him attentively to curb any inappropriate behavior, should it occur, Kormac was also watching the little scene from the Demon Hunter's side with a very sour look on his face.
"Now, dearest Leah." The thief began and smoothly fanned the deck of cards out in his hands. "Pick a card, any card!" he said with a mischievous smile. Leah looked at him suspiciously, smiling just slightly, before dubiously selecting a card at random from the fan he held out to her. "Ah, the eight of hearts." Leah showed the card to Eirena and Kala then handed the card back to Lyndon.
"Alright, well, I can't always get this particular magic to work for me, but when it does work it's quite spectacular. I can make any card I choose move through the deck." Lyndon explained confidently. "Leah, I'll put your card, the eight of hearts, back into the deck here, anywhere really, it doesn't matter. " He explained as he separated the deck into two stacks and flipped them over so only the decorative card backs could be seen. He pushed the edge of Leah's card into one of the stacks. "Now gather round girls and watch closely, this is very interesting, Leah could you just push your card all the way into the deck for me?" They leaned in as she did so and he moved his other hand, holding the other half of the deck out of the way to allow Leah to push the card inside the half of the deck he held out to her.
While the girls were focused on his hand that held the deck supposedly holding Leah's card, Lyndon did a very curious thing: He removed the bottom card from the other deck, licked the back of it, and quickly stuck it to his forehead. Jack could see clearly that it was the eight of hearts and fought back a smile. The girl's were so focused on the other half of the deck that they didn't notice at all.
"Alright, I'll shuffle the deck and I should be able to get your card to rise to the top." Lyndon explained.
Card still stuck on his forehead, Lyndon joined the two stacks and shuffled them expertly. "Alright, keep your eyes on the deck, this really should work the first time." He tapped the top of the deck three times, then turned the card over. "Two of spades, damn it all, that's not it." He muttered, while Leah, Eirena and Kala, watched him shuffle the deck and keep trying. "Hang on, I'll get it, just keep watching." He said with fake frustration.
"I think our thief has missed his calling as a stage actor." Kormac muttered sternly to Jack.
"Hmm." The hunter answered in agreement, and continued to watch.
Leah sighed, "You're not very good at this are y-" she began, then looked up and saw her card stuck to his forehead and started to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand, unable to help herself. The other girls looked up and also began to laugh. Lyndon smiled at them and took the card off his head and returned it to the deck. "Most impressive!" Eirena said, giggling. The girls clapped for him while he bowed extravagantly.
Kormac always flushed angrily whenever Lyndon spoke to Eirena with an easy confidence that the Templar would likely never posses for those of the opposite gender, and watching Eirena compliment the scoundrel caused his face to twist into a scowl. Sometimes Jack thought Kormac really needed to learn to pick his battles and not get so riled up by Lyndon's teasing.
Not that Jack was much better, Lyndon angered him on a daily basis and he frequently lost his temper in the thief's presence. Jack was aware that he did poorly in social settings as well, and whenever he had time alone to himself, he could only think about what he needed to do next and how he would accomplish it, desiring only to stay one step ahead of the enemy.
Lyndon had gone off by himself behind one of the parked caravans. He honestly looked a little suspicious to the Demon Hunter, perhaps he had stolen something from one of the girls? It wouldn't be the first time he'd stolen from someone in their group. The man had some bad habits and Jack would not tolerate them amongst their companions. The hunter moved from his spot by the fire and followed the scoundrel, silent as a shadow.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked him and Lyndon jumped and clutched at his chest.
"Gods, don't keep doing that! We need to get you a bell or something before my heart gives out." The man panted, holding something large and red in his hand.
"Why did you go back here alone? Did you steal something again?" Jack asked impatiently, indicating the round object.
"Well I never, you don't seem to trust me very much, and after all we've been through together!" Lyndon retorted. "I wasn't doing anything . I bought this. Just because I steal often doesn't mean I steal everything." Lyndon said in mild irritation, holding out the orb.
Jack stared at the thing. It was made from an organic material of some kind ...an egg? Or some kind of painted, carved ornament perhaps?
"...What is it?" Jack asked cautiously.
"You've never seen one?! It's a pomegranate... they're my favorite fruit!" Lyndon exclaimed excitedly.
"No." The hunter answered flatly. He'd never even been across the sea before, let alone seen unusual, imported fruit.
"I've only ever managed to find them in Caldeum or Lut Gholein, warmer places, they're rare, and as with most of the things I like... expensive ." Lyndon explained with a grin.
"Just a fruit? Why did you sneak off then?" Jack demanded.
"I wasn't interested in sharing." Lyndon replied simply.
Jack raised an eyebrow, eying the strange red fruit with deep suspicion.
Lyndon rolled his eyes, "Here I'll show you." He drawled, and pulled out a short dagger, "I cut off both ends-" he said and then did so while Jack watched attentively, "-and then I score the sides-" he explained, "Then snap it apart." He finished, cracking the fruit in half, "Voila!" Lyndon exclaimed, handing Jack one half to inspect.
At first the Demon hunter wasn't quite sure what he was looking at, it looked like the inside of the round fruit was filled with deep red rubies that shimmered in the reflected light of the campfire and for a moment, he thought Lyndon might have been making a fool of him and that this bizarre thing really was just an eccentric, ornate possession a cast out noble had stubbornly clung to, that the scoundrel had stolen earlier that night.
But then he smelled the sweet fragrance and saw red liquid dripping from the inside. It was a fruit.
It was beautiful.
"Strange right?" Lyndon said, before removing some of the tiny red gems and popping them into his mouth, "But so good." he finished with a pleased sigh. Strange indeed. The beads of fruit were held by a white, organic material that reminded him of honeycomb, he'd really never seen anything like it. Jack figured he should hand it back, it wasn't his to keep, but Lyndon said "Aren't you even a little bit curious? Go on, try it." He offered amiably.
"Alright." Jack said quietly, unsure of why he was suddenly nervous. Everything about this felt too comfortable, like something he was not supposed to be a part of. Friendship. Something he didn't think about much, it was hard for him to imagine that someone would want to associate with him for longer than strictly necessary. He didn't think of himself as very pleasant company, or someone people might want to share things with.
He unsnapped a few beads from the white honeycomb material they rested in with fumbling, unsure fingers and tasted one hesitantly. The bead popped on his teeth and flooded his mouth with the taste. It was sweet but a little tannic like wine. He was immediately pulled back into a memory from years and years ago. It reminded him of the cranberries that he and his sister would help his mother gather from the bogs. Their father would be harvesting peat moss to dry and burn as fuel in the winter months while they gathered the bog fruit. As a sawyer, wood was too valuable to his trade to burn. When they had picked enough, their mother would sweeten and cook the cranberries in water over the fire, or she'd bake them into various muffins and pastries. They tasted much like this. His sister was so messy , she would get the juice all over her face and her dress, laughing when she ate it with her hands, the stains took forever to wash out and he would spend hours just-
The memory surprised him with how vivid it was, and how easily it had come, though he had spent years carefully locking away that part of himself. The emotions it brought were sudden and sharp and made his throat tighten and his chest ache. He thought Lyndon might even be able to hear the pounding of his heart.
"You like it? You can have some more if you want." Lyndon offered, seemingly oblivious to the change that had come over the Demon Hunter.
It took longer than he thought it would to bury the memory away someplace deep within him. Deep enough so it wouldn't hurt anymore. Jack swallowed before speaking, afraid his voice might crack.
"I thought you weren't interested in sharing." He managed to reply.
"I'll make an exception for you." Lyndon said with a wink a wolfish grin.
"Why do you smile so much?" Jack asked suddenly before he could stop himself. The thief stared at him, expression unreadable.
"If you have nice teeth, show them off, I always say." Lyndon responded cheerfully.
"That's not a real answer." The hunter shot back.
"And what would you consider to be a real answer then?" Lyndon asked slyly. "It takes more muscles to frown than to smile. Did you know that? I usually prefer to take the path of least resistance." He added, throwing some of the pomegranate rind away as he worked more beads of fruit out.
Jack scoffed and rolled his eyes at him.
He decided that the fruit suited the thief, it was sweet but also pulled moisture from your mouth with its tartness, causing you to make a face. It was rare and expensive and looked like the treasure the greedy man couldn't get enough of. A seductive red color on the outside with a slight sheen to catch the eye. The tartness had a red juice, that stained and ran like blood, like all the things that Lyndon didn't want to talk about. Within each juice filled ruby was a pure white seed, like the good person that had to be there, hidden away from everyone.
He berated himself for being overly poetic. Perhaps he and Kala could write poetry together. How ridiculous .
"Anyway. There's no point in being unhappy all the time just because something bad happened to you or something didn't work out the way you wanted." Lyndon continued. "Then you'll miss out on the finer things in life!" He lectured happily.
"Like women and gold, correct?" Jack answered dryly.
"Ah, now you're getting it! Maybe you can try smiling next, hm?" Lyndon said laughing.
Jack sighed. Yes, the fruit suited him very well.
"Do you like it?" Lyndon asked a second time after he reigned in his amusement.
"Yes... yes I like it, thank you Lyndon, I'm sorry I... misjudged you." Jack said softly.
"No harm done my friend." Lyndon said smiling.
Friend.
Jack moved to hand the rest of the pomegranate back, fingers a little numb.
"No, you can have it." The thief said quickly.
"B-but-" Jack began, confused.
Lyndon laughed at his hesitation, and the Demon Hunter glared at him."Don't be shy, go on, eat it, take it as payment for saving me earlier from that dune thresher, the bloody thing would've eaten my damned foot off!" The scoundrel exclaimed, chuckling to himself, he sat down contentedly on a barrel and continued eating.
"Thank you." Jack said quietly.
He left abruptly and returned to his place in the shadows near the fire, eating the pomegranate half slowly, savoring each piece.
Notes: I love pomegranates, I buy about a thousand of them from mid October through mid January (when they are in season.) A dark depression hits me when I can no longer find any more good ones.
Some interesting things about the pomegranate: Some say that the fruit of temptation that caused Adam and Eve to be expelled from the Garden of Eden was not an apple, but a pomegranate. (The apple as we know it today would not have existed at the dawn of creation, depending on your beliefs of course.)
Having many seeds, the pomegranate is also considered a symbol of fertility and eternal life. Ancient Egyptians were often buried with pomegranates in the hope that it might hasten their re-birth.
Wikipedia says: "The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the Underworld, also prominently features the pomegranate. In one version of Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not allow the Earth to die, so he commanded Hades to return Persephone. It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so, because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld every year. During these six months, when Persephone is sitting on the throne of the Underworld next to her husband Hades, her mother Demeter mourns and no longer gives fertility to the earth. This became an ancient Greek explanation for the seasons."