Chapter 2:��� George 3, Xeades 1

I hate camping. Why can't we stay at an Inn, or someplace with running water? But when there isn't an Inn near by, and you are at least 2 days outside of the next village, camping by the road is the only option. We made camp and all was quiet. Nothing spectacular happened.

Xaedes and I had an interesting conversation about his childhood. He talked a lot about his Mother. She seems like a really nice lady. I'm sure he left out things that he didn't think was important. It was more of a one sided conversation, because I wasn't in the most talkative of moods. Besides, I really didn't know what to tell him. I am still trying to process all the information myself. The night was otherwise uneventful. Did I mention that I hate camping?

The next morning, I woke up early. I didn't wake up really I had never fallen asleep. Xaedes and Marious were still sleeping. I ventured out into the forest to find something for breakfast. I perched myself low in a tree, placing some foliage and berries I collected in a clearing below the tree. Rabbits are fluffy and cute and they make an excellent meal. I got the first one fairly easily. It was a bit small, but it would feed me.

I was tracking a second larger rabbit, when I heard a noise from behind me. The noise startled me, the rabbit, and I missed. Well mostly missed. The poor thing was wounded and was hobbling away. I'm fine with killing animals that are cute and fluffy, as long as I don't have to look at them. Xeades picked up the wounded rabbit, and with a quick twist, ended the poor things misery.

"You shouldn't wonder off alone." He said sternly. I jumped out of the tree.

"I'm used to doing things alone so I didn't think about it. And look who's talking… You wondered off by yourself." I crossed my arms, glaring at him with a raised eyebrow. He glared back at me.

"Hmph. I'm the oldest. I should be the one that looks after you now that…"

"What? Now that Father is gone?" I interrupted saying rather harshly with anger in my voice. I felt my blood start to heat up. Xaedes looked visibly wounded by my outburst. I took a deep breath and counted. He was trying to be nice. I had to give the guy credit; he was concerned about me. Screaming at him because I'm pissed at Father about this WHOLE mess wasn't fair to Xaedes. I took another deep breath.

"I appreciate the concern. It's going to take BOTH of us some time to adjust to this sibling thing. Being part of an adventure group comes with the understanding that we HAVE to watch each other's back. I get that part and I'm sorry I wondered off alone. But I don't need you to hold my hand either." I grabbed the smaller rabbit and headed back to the camp. I was angry and then the anger turned to sadness.

I had hurt him a lot more than he let show at the time. I didn't care that he was hurting about Father's death. He was MY Father. He had left ME alone with this brother, the son MY Father had wanted ME to be. I wanted to cry again. But I bottled up all the emotions and thoughts I was having, corked them, and set them on a shelf. It was not the time or the place to let them out. I returned to camp a few minutes later.

Marious was talking with a group of traders that had stopped. They were stopping to make breakfast. Marious came walking up to me with the leader of the caravan.

"GEORGE! Where is Xaedes?" Marious looked momentarily anxious until Xaedes came out of the tree line seconds behind me. "Ah, Xaedes… Good… These fine people have agreed to allow us to travel with them to Castletown. They will feed us and give us first look at their wears in exchange for protection on the road to Castletown." Marious was smiling.

Xaedes just nodded his head and held out the larger rabbit. I held out the small rabbit. "I'm in… Let's eat." I wasn't in a smiling mood. The portly caravan leader motioned for a woman to come over. She took the two rabbits and seemed very excited about them. Xaedes went to help Marious clean up our half of the camp and get the horses fed. I went to help with making breakfast. Xaedes and I didn't talk at all the rest of the morning.

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Conversation between Marious and Xaedes after George walks off to help with breakfast:

M:"What is with you?"

X:"I am trying to connect with my younger brother."

M:"I take it that it isn't going well."

X:"I don't think he like me very much."

M:"By the GODS Xaedes… Did you expect the boy to welcome you with open arms?"

X:"I don't know what I expected."

M:"He walked into the forest alone. You and I both know that isn't a wise thing to do. He doesn't know about the big bad world. He may think he knows, cause he grew up with the stories that your father told him. But the stories aren't reality. That kid is a greenhorn. You aren't any better, but you at least you have a firm grip on what reality is."

X:"I understand what it is to be alone and being alone isn't something you get over in one day."

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Breakfast was decent. It was a mishmash of different foods. We packed up and headed out by noon. The trip was going to take a little longer than the 2 days originally anticipated. A slow moving caravan takes a lot of time and a lot of work to keep moving. I didn't know you had to stop every few miles to feed people and water the horses and oxen. But that's what we did. It was still pretty uneventful. The sun went down and we made a camp next to the road.

There was wine, woman, and dancing. I don't dance. I know how, I just don't do it. I stood off to the side of the party. It was actually kind of interesting that I found Xaedes on the other side of the wagon leaning against it looking cool and indifferent.

"Not one for parties either, Brother?" I was trying to be polite.

"I've never been much of a social person." He stood up straight and looked over to me. "I'm sorry about this morning."

I shrugged, "Meh… No big deal. I shouldn't have gone off by my self. I'll just let everyone starve next time and let someone else risk their neck to get breakfast." It was the first time I saw him smile. Ok he didn't smile, his lip curled upwards. The party died down and all was quiet. I was sleeping peacefully in one of the wagons. There was some commotion outside. The sun was barely up over the mountain peaks as I came outside.

Gods I hate goblins. But they make for good target practice. I think I am beginning to believe that a bow is better than a sword. One of the other sentries sounded the alarm. I would say it was a horde of goblins, but it was enough of them to make life a bit of a pain in the ass for a little while.

I took my first two down rather easily. Xaedes had taken out his one when I saw my number three heading for Xaedes with an axe. I let my arrow loose and hit the little bugger in the chest before Xaedes could react. He turned and glared at me. I had the biggest smile on my face and I had to say something to rub it in. "I told you I would watch your back." And I jumped off the wagon.

Things calmed down and the caravan had only lost one ox. The goblins didn't fair so well. There were 6 dead goblins that didn't have a whole lot on them. I earned my first few gold pieces and I was ready to spend them. I felt grimy and gross, but I was excited about my first real fight.

"You did a lot better than I expected." Marious seemed pretty impressed with my performance. "Don't you think Xaedes?"

Xaedes was leaning against the wagons looking indifferent again. That "I'm so cool" look is beginning to get annoying. I think he's mad at me for some reason, and I happy with that thought. He walked past me and mounted his horse.

"We should be leaving." And he said before he rode away in a huff. I tried so desperately to hide my elation. I wanted to die laughing. I thought I had managed pretty well. I turned to Marious. "What's eating him?" He saw the snicker I was trying to hide.

"You saved his ass and he was slightly confused by it. He has this odd idea that he is supposed to be protecting you or die trying. YOU saved his life without skipping a beat. Then you add the fact that you took half of the goblins." Marious snickered. "Xaedes has some weird hero complex. He will throw himself in the face of danger without thinking about it. He isn't used to having someone do that for him. I think it may have been better to let the goblin hit him with the axe." Marious mounted his horse. "There is something you need to know about Xaedes, he grew up alone too. Give him a chance. You two have more in common than a Father. Now come on or we'll get left behind."

I chewed on Marious's words as I mounted my horse. I hadn't thought about how Xaedes was feeling about this sibling thing. I don't think I really cared. We were only another day outside of Castletown and I was going to be glad to sleep in a real bed and take a real bath. I hate camping.