VIII

Makuta batted Ekimu's hand off his shoulder as if it were an insect. "Imagine my situation from your perspective for once. You decide you have nothing better to do, so you take a little nap. Sensible. The next thing you know, you're in a deep, dark cave in the middle of nowhere—maskless, mind you—and your brother suddenly walks up to you, puts your mask on and say whatever happened doesn't really matter?" His eyes narrowed to violet slits as he glared at Ekimu. "Forgive me for assuming such a thing," he continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "but I have a feeling there might be more to this story than what I remember."

Ekimu held his hands up defensively. "No, I meant it didn't matter since it's the past now. You really, truly don't have to bother trying to remember."

"Really." Makuta folded his arms. "I think I 'really, truly' do have to, my dear brother."

Ekimu sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that." He considered putting a hand on Makuta's shoulder again, but decided against it. "You were having a nightmare."

Makuta winced. "Was it that obvious?"

Ekimu thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully, then said, "Well… you were constantly moving in your sleep, and it looked as if you were in pain. That's usually what you do when that happens."

"In other words, yes. But you had apologized earlier—was it because of what I had gone through?"

"You could… put it that way, yes."

Makuta looked up at the ceiling. "That still doesn't explain where I awoke."

"Where I took you doesn't matter," Ekimu said a little too quickly. "What truly matters is that you're alright."

"But I'm not alright," Makuta protested. "I need you to explain what happened, and no nonsense like 'I stuck you in a cave to protect you from yourself' or something. Or maybe," he added with dry humor, "it was to protect you."

Ekimu inhaled sharply, eyes wide.

Makuta noticed. "Are you serious?"

Shaking his head, Ekimu said, "No, something slimy fell from the ceiling. Can we go outside?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

As they walked, Makuta couldn't help but think. Maybe Ekimu was apologizing for something he himself had done. Perhaps Makuta had done something in his sleep, scaring his brother. That, or he did something stupid after awakening and Ekimu had knocked him out. I suppose that explains why my mask was gone—he must have done so in self defense. But dropping me off in a cave is a bit much.

Ekimu nearly screamed.

Makuta froze in place. "Ekimu? What is it?"

Ekimu took a deep breath. "Something touched me."

"You're joking. Something so much as touches you, and you shriek like you're about to die?"

"I don't like slimy things, alright? They… ugh. Creeps me out to even think about them."

Makuta rolled his eyes. "To each his own fears."

They began to travel down the cave. After about a minute of walking, he admitted, "You do know I'd been planning to grab some algae and drop it on your head a while back, right?"

Ekimu responded with a cold, steely gaze. "You should be glad you did not do that."

"I'm just saying I could have done it, but didn't."

Ekimu refused to respond.

Minutes passed as the brothers walked through the cave, with Makuta having a one-person conversation regarding Ekimu's "biggest fear," while Ekimu himself desperately searched for a way out—both from the cave and from his brother's talking.

"Hey, I can see a light up ahead!" Ekimu said far too loudly.

Makuta frowned. "I'm right here—you needn't awaken the bats. On another note, the last time I checked it was considered impolite to interrupt people."

"Rules change from time to time," Ekimu said dismissively. "There's the exit, right up ahead. Let's go."

"It took around five minutes for us to get here."

Ekimu quickened his pace. "It might have—I hadn't been counting. Your point is?"

"It seems odd," said Makuta slowly, "that you'd take the trouble to drag me so far into a cave."

Ekimu turned to Makuta. Slowly, he set a hand on his shoulder.